An Edinburgh resident along with a long time university friend from America has launched a clothing brand with a conscience.
Rod Farnood, 29, from Corstorphine and Colin McGraw, 28, from Boston, started Oysters Clothing through the Covid-19 pandemic with an aim of creating a clothing brand that helps conservation efforts for endangered species.
Having met ten years ago at Washington State University as business students, the dynamic duo always knew that they wanted to work together but at the time did not know how.
They kept in touch and remained friends throughout the years but during the Covid-19 pandemic and with all their spare time, they decided to launch a clothing brand that encompasses their love for fashion, animals and travelling.
The pair had been motivated to go for a national animal clothing line after discovering that the quality of clothing in a lot of souvenir shops was poor and was often not as eco-conscious as they would have hoped.
At first the vision was hard to get off the ground, with the time difference between Edinburgh and Boston being rather problematic.
But that did not stop the budding entrepreneurs.
And after a short while Rod was already creating drawings for their first three national animals and a brilliant designer was brought on board from Bali to help complete the process.
On getting started, Rod said: “Over lockdown we both had more spare time on our hands.
“We have known each other for ten years, meeting back at Washington State University in the US having both studied business.
“We have always wanted to work together, and wanted to combine our passions of animals and travelling.
“Throughout our travels, we noticed that a lot of the souvenirs available in gift shops, representing national animals, were of poor quality or poor design. Therefore, we decided to bring a fresh look to national animal clothing, while giving back towards saving these animals at the same time.
“Initially we got off the ground with lots and lots of zoom calls and collaboration! We knew we had a good idea on our hands, but we took our time to get the right design and look of our animals.”
Colin added: “Rod drew the first three animals, with the look and style we were aiming for. We then brought on a brilliant designer from Bali, Indonesia, to continue developing and designing our national animal collection. Currently, we have now successfully launched eight animals!
“We both saw a lack of quality in souvenir shops, therefore we saw an opportunity to introduce a high quality alternative!”
Animal and ecological welfare were always at the forefront of Oysters clothing vision and the co-founders have continued to remain consistent with this approach since launching the business.
As a company they have built partnerships with a variety of partners across the globe and as a result donate 10 per cent of their net profits to conservation efforts regarding each specific animal.
That way, animal lovers know that if they are buying a lemur t-shirt, that their money will be going to help lemurs in Madagascar.
On the conservation campaign that goes hand in hand with their brand, Colin said: “We are always considering the environment with everything we do, in terms of materials used in our designs, our shipping methods, along with limiting wasted stock.
“This is important as we grow, that we improve our process, and limit our overall carbon footprint.
“When starting Oysters Clothing, we made it clear from the beginning we wanted to create our brand around animal conservation. We want people to be proud of the clothes they are wearing, knowing they are making a difference.
“While we love our designs and National Animal concept, our true differentiator is the fact that we don’t partner with just one animal conservation charity - but we partner with a different one for each animal design!
“Therefore, our customers know their purchase is helping the EXACT animal they are wearing on their clothing.
“In the future we hope to represent every national animal in the world, and hope to donate $1 million to our charities over the next five years!”
Rod says that at the moment they are working alongside the Lemur Conservation Foundation; kangaroo charity Wild 2 Free; David Shepherd’s Wildlife Foundation for tigers; The Sloth Institute; The Perfect World Foundation for polar bears; See Turtles; Grevy’s Zebra Trust and Save Elephant Foundation.
He added that: “Some of the best highlights since starting the company have been the Zoom meetings with charity partners across the globe, from Greenland to Australia to Kenya.
“We learned about their projects in animal conservation. It's one thing to read this information online but it's another to hear directly from people involved in these conservation projects.
“We would have liked to meet our charity partners in person and see their work firsthand, but because of the pandemic, we've had to rely on their web presence to gauge their animal conservation efforts, and conservations via Zoom.”
Getting the company off the ground however was not the easiest thing to do.
Young Oysters Clothing were hit with a multitude relating to issues with shipping that had become extremely problematic during the pandemic.
They say however that they managed to refund those that received their clothing late and delivered exceptional customer service throughout.
Both Rod and Colin thanked their close community of family and friends, their charity partners as well as their customers for helping to get the brand up and running.
Rod said: “On our launch day we made $1,500 in sales! This was due to tremendous support from friends, families, and our initial charity partners in the Lemur Conservation Foundation and Wild 2 Free.
“Support from our followers and customers worldwide who believe in our mission has been so cool to watch and grow.
“Not only from orders, but people purchasing and showing off their clothing on social media, and their contribution towards animal conservation.
“This was our goal in starting the brand and it is so cool to see it come to fruition with individuals worldwide sending us photos in their new Oysters Clothing hoodie or t-shirt.
“This motivates us every day!
“We'd love to finish by thanking all our charity partners for the support and of course our families, who have supported our dream and mission since the beginning.”
Oyster Clothing will have a new Summer bird collection dropping in May and anyone looking to support their business and conservation efforts can do so here via their website.
