FASHION BOUNDARY – THE INNOVATIVE PLATFORM FOR TALENTED DESIGNERS TO PROMOTE THEIR BRAND IN A SUPPORTIVE, COLLECTIVE SPACE

Fashion Boundary is an online fashion retailer founded in 2019 that unite independent designer labels under one roof to showcase their unique pieces. Fashion Boundary is a platform for talented designers to promote their brand in a supportive, collective space.

Fashion Boundary’s mission is to support emerging designers and independent labels. They collaborate with designers from all over the globe who dedicate themselves to their trade. Browsing through Fashion Boundary you will find a curated collection of clothing, handbags, shoes and jewellery from a variety of brands both small niche labels and popular big brands. Overall, we advocate slow, stylish and sustainable fashion. 

”AT FASHION BOUNDARY WE SOURCE LABELS WHO VALUE ETHICAL MEANS OF PRODUCTION AND STRIVE TO USE SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS. WE WANT TO OFFER OUR CUSTOMERS PIECES THAT ARE OF THE BEST QUALITY, MADE TO LAST AND ARE A BETTER CHOICE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT.”

– Crissy Zhang, Founder of https://fashionboundary.com

A TALK WITH CRISSY ZHANG, FOUNDER OF FASHION BOUNDARY

• When did you first realize you wanted to create Fashion Boundary and why do you consider it a movement?

The idea of creating an e-commerce business is something that I had in the back in my mind for years. Fashion Boundary was born in Melbourne in late 2018, but it formally set sail in June 2019.  I considered easy logistics for a globalised business model, which started with fashion garments, bags, shoes and accessories. 

I decided to focus on good quality, interesting, wearable and timeless pieces. There’re so many beautiful one-of-kind products and unique designs that aren’t exposed to a wide audience. I then collated a small team and that’s where Fashion Boundary comes in.

People’s lifestyles are constantly changing which means their shopping behaviour is transforming. More and more people have switched to online shopping from a mobile phone for convenience and ease, especially during COVID-19. It’s important for us to keep up with the needs of our customers and give them great user-experience. 

• If you could go back and tell yourself one thing before beginning your career what would it be?

Find your true passion and follow your heart, and keep doing things you believe it is right and never feel regretful!

• What is one thing you look at the brands for Fashion Boundary eBoutique?

If I only can pick one thing, that probably is the potential of each brand. We’re usually after young brands who would be around 3-5 years old in the market. When we select designer pieces, we’re looking for beautiful, unique and wearable items that we know our customer will love. There are a few questions we have to ask ourselves with considering a featured brand; Would our customer wear it? Is it in her price range? It is new and exciting? Has it been sustainably produced? Where is it made? Each brand is considered, researched and discussed whether it aligns with our values. 

• What role do you think social media plays in the arts industry today?

Social media plays a major role in the arts industry as it allows for up-and-coming artists and designers to showcase their work and build a customer audience without a costly advertising and marketing campaign. When Fashion Boundary first started I was thankful I could build a brand from an Instagram page before I launched the online store.

• Can you tell us more in which location are placed Fashion Boundary’s clients and what is the most challenging part of your job?

As we ship globally we have had customers from all parts of the world, including; Australia, New Zealand, US, UK, Italy, France, Japan, Saudi Arabia and China. We also make a point to offer a variety of different payment options that appeal to a global market such as American Express, O Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal and of course, Visa and Mastercard. The most challenging part is language and culture. We need to understand consumer’s shopping behaviours, what social media do they use and how do they shop online. For example, we developed our WeChat mini-program for the Chinese market because most Chinese people are using WeChat this social channel. 

• There is one important person, in your life, who pushes and motivates you to believe in yourself? 

There’re some many people are important to me including my parents and husband, and I’ve always been inspired by so many different talented people in my life. But if I only pick one person that pushes and motivates me, probably it is myself. I will always be motivated and energised when I wake up every morning during my entrepreneurship journey, and I never felt tired. 

If you ask me where my motivation comes from, maybe it comes from my heart, a heart that wants to surpass myself. People who can surpass others may not be able to surpass themselves. Those who can surpass themselves are true winners. 

• How do you think sustainability can play an important role in fashion industry? 

Sustainability in the fashion industry is important as Fast Fashion continues to be a contributor to negative environmental impact including water pollution, the use of toxic chemicals and increasing levels of textile waste. Sustainable fashion production is a way that this industry can attempt to mend the harm it has done to the environment.

• Tell us how do you think fast-fashion affects our environment and what other organizations like yours can do for a change in better? 

As mentioned in the previous answer, Fast Fashion has major environmental impacts including the consumption of non-renewable sources, emission of greenhouse gases and the incredible amount of water and energy it uses. Fast Fashion also plays a major part in the exploitation of workers in factories which many customers are unaware of.

It’s great to see there’re many brands (established brands or emerging brands) who have started to be more environmentally conscious about how and where their products are being made. As an online retailer, it’s important to understand the process of each of the brands we feature as much as possible about their design process to production as well as be transparent to our customers. 

•  Would you like to involve other companies in your future projects? 

By launching our Capsule Collections, we are able to collaborate with brands who advocate slow, stylish and sustainable fashion as well as independent designers who are doing something unique in the fashion industry. The mission of this project was to achieve stylish, sustainable, long-lasting and affordable garments for women of all sizes to have in their wardrobe for years. 

•  We loved the CO-BRANDING concept between Fashion Boundary and Thou Art, regarding the capsule collection Pure Mirror. What was the main mission of this collaboration?

‘Fashion Boundary capsule collection’ is the first special collection of our new in-house label Fashion Boundary Label established in Melbourne. It’s an on-going project and allows us to collaborate with global talented designers to reinterpret and identify a new way of sustainable fashion. Each collection might tick some boxes that how we try to achieve the sustainable target. 

• What are the short – term and long – term goals of Fashion Boundary?

Maybe different goals for two different businesses. 

For Fashion Boundary eBoutique, short term goal is to broaden our brand curation, to discover more amazing products for the global consumers who live and breathe independent designer products, as well as keep working on our brand awareness and increase online traffic. The long term goal is probably to become a global, well-known one-stop-shop for our customers.

Short term goal for our own private brand is to focus on our product development. To create better products that are unique, cost-effective, high quality but are also practical. To provide a better service, to establish brand awareness and to build our own community. The long term goal probably is to open our flagship store in Melbourne and Shanghai one day. I believe online and offline co-existence is an essential marketing strategy, however, we probably will be 80% more focus on online and 20% on offline.