Vanessa Barboni Hallik + What a Week!!
From Farm to Closet đ
Vanessa Barboni Hallik: From Farm to Closet
I hope you had a great holiday weekend. Last Friday was something else. Thank you to all who came to our kick-off party, and sorry if I didn't get to say hello, it was a full house and so much fun! On top of it all, we celebrated our 5th anniversary, so I am still recovering! This week, Iâm thrilled to share a chat I had with Vanessa Borboni Hallik, the Founder of Another Tomorrow. I think her biggest insight was realizing fashion is essentially an agricultural product, driving her to focus on raw materials first, and creating a farm-to-closet model emphasizing human, animal, and environmental welfare. Another smart move was borrowing from the car industryâs pre-certified program, ensuring her products could remain in circulation (yes, you can resell them on ATâs website). Transparency is key for Vanessa, and you can access each pieceâs provenance with a QR code on every garment.
She launched her brand six weeks before Covid hit and her Creative Director passed away during that time, and this alone would have made most people throw in the towel. Not Vanessa. She doubled down on finding the best materials, like wool from a woman-owned farm in Tasmania, and pushed through every challenge, continually refining Another Tomorrow to the brand it is today. It takes courage to tackle an industry youâre new to and a curious mind to ask the right questions, and I think Vanessa embodies that. In just four years, sheâs set new standards for the fashion industry, redefined luxury, and given us hope that we can build a new fashion industry while supporting (and not exploiting) human beings, animals and Mother Nature.
Iâm so proud to have Another Tomorrow at Matriark, and I hope you get to know Vanessa a little better. Scroll down for my Q&A with her and check out our Pop-Up Items of the Week.
Thank you, as always, and see you next week for more good stuff. Email me at info@matriark.com for questions or comments, talk soon, xx
PS: if you want to get a little flavor of our party, check our instagram post with a quick recap. It was a goreous day!
Patricia
Vanessa and a Farmer in Lovington, New Mexico
A sheep farm in Tasmania
Matriark Q&A
â´ď¸ You were working in Morgan Stanley and realized fashionâs enormous lack of leadership in sustainability when you were shifting your focus to ESG. How did you go from there to wanting to start AT? Was there a specific thing that made you decide to start Another Tomorrow when you were at Morgan Stanley? And what was your biggest learning from this pivot?
I always say that Another Tomorrow was a beautiful accident. I had started to do some early stage investing in climate tech and materials science and saw the power of entrepreneurs - and of venture capital - in defining our future and became passionate about helping to redirect capital in a future relevant way.
What is funded is what gets built and I felt very strongly that what was getting funded was leading us down the wrong path as a collective society. As a result, I took a sabbatical in 2018 intending on making the transition from emerging markets into sustainable investing and ended up accidentally becoming exposed to the incredible environmental and human impacts of fashion early on in that journey. I was floored first by my own ignorance of the problem - and then by the magnitude and complexity of it.
Rather than becoming mired in negativity, the more I learned the more clear it became to me that the industry (and its customers) would benefit from an alternative vision for a resilient future for fashion.
And I could actually see that vision clear as day in the brand concept that would become Another Tomorrow - a brand of exquisite quality, founded on science-based, sustainable, traceable and transparent supply chains taking what has become commonplace in âfarm to tableâ to âfarm to closetâ - and using technology to treat âclothing as an assetâ through an Authenticated Resale program that ensured effortless circularity. Approaches that could be applied throughout the industry.
In the four years since we launched, there have been massive learnings along the way - one is that there is no such thing as the heroâs journey; big visions are built of passion, persistence and collaboration. I knew literally one person in all of fashion coming into this and Another Tomorrow would not exist without countless people believing in this vision and joining forces. The other is learning to recognize patterns of resilience. There is a joke in entrepreneurship that solving the problems in front of you today earns you the right to solve the problems of tomorrow. Not a great sell! But the truth is, doing so offers an opportunity to witness your own incredible resilience and that can truly change your orientation in life. Which I have realized is available to all of us irrespective of vocation because itâs just as true in everyday life.
â´ď¸ Besides the more obvious financial skills, what were the critical things you took away from your life in finance that has helped you build AT, and is there anything hinder you in some way?
Working on a trading floor, inundated with information, you have to have a very strong filter for what is âdecision-usefulâ otherwise you would be paralyzed. The same is true in entrepreneurship and this has helped me focus and make decisions efficiently. On the flip side, I was trained in a very hierarchical way and have an inherently very direct leadership style. Building Another Tomorrow, and leading us through the pandemic and the loss of one of our senior team members during this time, really forced me to grow as a leader.
â´ď¸ I was excited to hear your beautiful wool comes from a woman owned farm. How did you even find her?
Farm-traceable supply chains are our North Star as this is where the impact starts, at the soil level - and with tremendous impacts on ecosystems, climate and often animal welfare. We had the great fortune to be put in touch with a non-profit called Fibershed, that helped us to build our earliest connections with farmers in Tasmania, Australia - notably Nan Bray of White Gum Wool, a former marine scientist turned sheep farmer, who has demonstrated that a combination of science and compassion can deliver superior quality, ethical wool with incredible ecosystem and climate benefits.
Indeed I see women leading in this way all over the world with innovation and compassion. Itâs hugely motivating - and also needs a lot more funding.
â´ď¸ So much of your journey has been very technical and supply chain focused: carbon sequestration, Soil health, animal welfare, emissions, water, wages, energy and chemicals. This is an ongoing conversation, but what else in on your radar now? What do you think the next big frontier in sustainable fashion is?
We are doubling down on our work in both circularity (resale) and regenerative agriculture - and adding additional focus on next generation materials. Keeping high quality garments in circulation for as long as possible is one of the strongest means of reducing impact while regenerative supply chains and next generation materials can have massive biodiversity, climate and animal welfare benefits.
In a world where we are far exceeding our planetary boundaries - the fact that over 50pct of clothing goes to landfill in the first year (including much of what people think they are donating) has to stop, and what we are producing must be produced responsibly.
â´ď¸ We know that the world is not set up for womenâs success. Less than 3% of VC funds go to women owned companies. Besides women supporting women, what would you say is the key to surviving as a female entrepreneur in fashion?
Itâs hard to underestimate the power of women supporting women. Iâll say it again as it bears repeating - what gets funded is what gets built and we have to get more women involved in the venture capital ecosystem as both funders and founders. It is the lifeblood. The second is my meditation practice. I started in mid-2017 and it has transformed every relationship in my life.
â´ď¸ You started Another Tomorrow 6 weeks before Covid hit. And yet you not only survived but grew and thrived. What would you say was the most important factor for your success so far?
A love for our customer and a desire to serve.
â´ď¸ Youâve mentioned in the past that women like Isolde Brielmaier, the Deputy Director of the New Museum designer Mara Hoffman have been great source of inspiration for you. How so, and are there are other female role models or people you look up to?
Countless. I mention Isolde and Mara often because they show up consistently and with such integrity, are incredibly heart-forward, they collaborate. And they donât bullshit. They inspire me to be the best version of myself and to do the same as they do for others. Thatâs a role model. When I think about how many other people they have touched, the impact one person like that can have is absolutely enormous.
â´ď¸ Favorite thing to do when you are not working: spend time with my family.
â´ď¸ Favorite vegetarian restaurant: Eleven Madison Park.
â´ď¸ Favorite piece from Another Tomorrow: while we are known for tailoring and denim, I am currently living in our leggings!
â´ď¸ Favorite place in the world: home.
â´ď¸ Favorite brand besides your own: Rapha. I admire them for their brilliance in building community.
POP-UP PICK OF THE WEEK
This week's favorite pieces selected from our Pop-Up brands
(1) Another Tomorrow' trench is not only beautiful but a 3 in 1 built in piece that will carry you through all seasons. The top layer is a beautiful cropped bolero jacket, placed over a beautiful belted sleevless long vest. Add the 2 and you got the trench! Made with hemp and Forest Stewardship Council-certified viscose.
(2) Rebecca Taylor's linen sleevless top adds just enough structure to their linen skirt (I wore the skirt for our Kick Off party with Hamptons Magazine with a Khaite mesh heel and Another Tomorrow's rib tank and loved it!. Will be rotating with sneakers and ballet flats as well.
(3) Marfa Stance's Parachute Quilt vest is a wardrobe staple, and I am eyeing this delicious soft peach color. As all the jackets in their line, this vest is reversible. Add a shearling collar and you'll have a very different Fall and Winter piece.
(1) Sestini sunglasses are the coolest, come by the shop to try them on!
(2) Never saw a more amazing magic 8 ball! This one is from The Seven's collection of Marie Lichtenberg fine jewelry.
(3) Get in the mood for summer with Veronique Gabai's Sur La Plage fragrance. My favorite scent so far, it has Bergamot, Pink Pepper, Orange Flower, Tuberose, Jasmine, Cedar Wood.
(4) Nothing will say summer more than a straw bag. Le Ninè's cute Nina Bud Cotton bag is in our shop now, come get it! Made in Italy, such like Sestini's sunglasses.
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