Meet the Founder: Toni Chan, August Society

With the launch of our new partnership with August Society, we sat down with their Founder, Toni Chan, to find out more about the Singapore based brand and how it incorporates sustainability measures into its business. 

August Society makes amazingly flattering eco-friendly swimsuits for women, men and kids. Their high-quality swimwear is made from regenerated waste plastic and recycled plastic bottles whilst remaining super comfortable and providing great sun protection. 

We love the fact their suits are designed to last so you can get more mileage out of your swimwear, shop less, and keep your swimsuit out of the landfill for longer.

Hi Toni! Please tell us a bit more about yourself..

I'm the definition of a third-culture kid: I was born in Hong Kong, raised in Canada, did my MBA in Europe and Singapore, and now I have been living in Singapore for 13 years. I'm not a fashion designer by training; I come from a corporate background, having worked in the oil industry in Canada (ironic, I know) and as a management consultant in Southeast Asia. I have a French hubby and two kids aged 5 and 4.

What inspired you to launch August Society?

I think I was quite naive at the time! I wanted to take a more creative path after leaving corporate life, and I had always wanted to try starting my own business. I couldn’t find swimwear I liked, so I taught myself how to design, found a factory in Bali in 2015 and started making swimsuits. As I started to learn more about how destructive the fashion industry can be, I realized I needed to introduce more sustainable practices in how I run my brand.

Can you tell us a bit more about how you incorporate sustainable practices into your brand?

The design of, and materials used, in our swimwear contributes to our sustainability mission. Here is what we incorporate into our design and production processes: 

• The raw material for our swimwear is waste plastic, such as PET from single-use water bottles and ECONYL® regenerated nylon fibres derived from carpeting and ghost fishing nets.
• Prints are digitally printed on the fabric, ensuring minimal waste and can be done in small batches
• Many of our designs are multi-use, reversible and mix and match –many styles are designed to be worn for both swimming and exercise so you can get more looks and mileage out of your swimwear, ensuring you can wear each piece as many times as possible. 
• The kids collections use premium fabrics and have unisex prints and styles where possible so they'll last a long time and can be handed down or resold 
• Swimwear fabric contains spandex, which is what makes it stretchy. The spandex in select women's pieces is Lycra® Xtralife™, a patented technology that helps fabric retain its shape so it can last as long as possible. If you take care of our swimsuit well, it can last you for 5 years or more!

What has been your greatest challenge and achievement as a business?

At this point, the greatest challenge and achievement have both been surviving COVID, haha! Travel restrictions have been a big challenge since many of our customers buy new swimsuits to go on vacation – so no weekend trips to Bali or Phuket has really impacted demand. But we’ve put more effort into engaging with consumers in new markets and have started to grow our overseas business, which has been promising.

How do you teach your children about the importance of looking after our planet?

Since they’re both still quite young, we’ve just started talking about practices like recycling and using reusable items like water bottles. I mainly focus on the “reduce” part of the three R’s – such as drawing on both sides of the paper, not wasting supplies or reusing packaging materials for crafts. I also teach them to be careful with their toys and books, and we repair what we can rather than throwing them away – so we can’t just buy a new one, we need to take care of our things to make them last as long as possible. We give away or sell clothes and toys in good condition and also buy second hand.

Finally, what advice do you have for other aspiring entrepreneurs who are looking to launch their own business?

My biggest advice is to start building your network – other entrepreneurs, customers, mentors, friends. No one can do business in a silo. Talk to people who are doing similar things, because you don’t know what you don’t know, and it’s always good to have people to turn to for help. Offer support to others and build connections so that everyone can grow together.

Have some outgrown August Society swimwear you would like to sell? To find out more about how you can earn August Society store credit in the process click here.