BAINA – A brand that embodies style, sustainability, and conscious design

Our next Style Makers are Bailey and Anna from BAINA. The creative duo has successfully established a luxurious toweling brand that has a strong focus on sustainably designed towels that elevate your bathing and self-care experience. Now more than ever, we’re sure a lot of us are finding it important to introduce regular self-care into our daily routines. Whether this looks like taking a nice long hot bath every night or prioritizing your skincare routine, it’s never been more important to look after your mental health and take some time out for yourself. When we discovered BAINA, we instantly fell in love with their unique and timeless designs and the way they have a focus on creating products that are sustainably and consciously made. It’s no secret that we are inspired by people who embody a sense of style in all they do. We couldn’t help but jump at the chance to chat with the creators behind this beautiful brand and discover how they established BAINA, their inspiration behind each of their designs and why they find embracing a sustainable lifestyle so important.  

Photographed by Greta van der Star

Hi Bailey and Anna. We’d love to get to know you a bit more. Tell us a bit about yourselves. What were each of your backgrounds before coming together to create BAINA? What gave you the idea to create BAINA?

We both met at high school in New Zealand, becoming good friends from the age of 14. Since school, our paths have at times been closely intertwined and at others being serviced from other sides of the globe. We both worked extensively in the New Zealand fashion industry, fortuitously working together at an NZ womenswear label then again in Melbourne at the design-led homewares manufacture brand. We both regularly discussed our shared vision on how we would create our own business. We spent many walks, and many wines, brainstorming what we felt we could contribute to the market. Towels were something we both felt we could passionately get behind. We both share a love of bathing and agreed our linen cupboards were lacking in the towel department. We explored the toweling market and felt there was nothing that spoke to our aesthetics. We decided to design organic cotton bath towels that could be selected in a way that fashion could – to reflect our personalities.

We love your curated range of luxury towels. Where does your inspiration for each style come from?

We certainly chose a product that has traditionally been fairly ordinary. When we settled on designing towels a whole new world of design possibilities opened up. We seek inspiration from a form of many avenues. We look at architecture, interior design, art & nature, always with a focus on colour theory. Fashion plays a large part in our design process as this is our first language, it is what we are most familiar with. We have come to learn that even the smallest of details can evoke a certain feeling and spark an idea worth exploring. We also design in a way that works back to what already exists in the collection, as we launch new colours and designs you will see every towel has a place and serves a different aesthetic, whilst still remaining distinctively BAINA.

Photographed by Sean Fennessy

Photographed by Sean Fennessy

How do you stay true to your style amongst the ever-changing trends in the design industry?

We design with permanence in mind and care deeply about the styles we produce. When releasing a new design, we want its purpose to translate, and believe allowing space around a style accentuates this. We always want new additions to work back with the current offering. To feel in some way closely related to the originality of BAINA. We do sit with a design for a long time before we release it, ensuring it is true to brand.

How important is it for you to include sustainable practices in your business?

Every manufacturing plant contributes to the detriment of our environment. For us, we didn’t want this on our conscience. Our factory is extremely progressive and constantly reworking efficiencies to maintain its reputation as a leader within the home and textile industry. Globally recognised certifications allow brands like us to be confidently assured in the principles and practices of our mill.  They are required to submit regular audits and meet a stringent level of social and environmental requirements in order to maintain these certifications. We visited the mill in February 2020 (right before the world ground to a halt) and were incredibly blown away by their transparency and production efficiencies.

Photographed by Sean Fennessy

Photographed by Sean Fennessy

"We try to live each day by improving our habits. Whether this be our natural reactions in situations, or the way in which we consume. 

From a product perspective, we didn’t want to create something just for the sake of it. We wanted to design something functional and routinely used, but elevated".

Bailey & Anna - BAINA founders

Photographed by Holly Burgess

Photographed by Greta Van der Star

Have you always been conscious about living a sustainable lifestyle or has this evolved over time?

We try to live each day by improving our habits. Whether this be our natural reactions in situations or the way in which we consume. 

From a product perspective, we didn’t want to create something just for the sake of it. We wanted to design something functional and routinely used, but elevated.

How you would both describe your personal interior style?

B: A collage. This might not be the best descriptive word but when I look around my home, I see a mixture of different styles that have been introduced as I move through my adult life, being inspired by different designers, movements, and colours and slowly incorporating or building a style that is unique to me and my way of living.

A: Evolving. Working in the creative environment that we do, I feel a sense of flux, seeking new and wonderful pieces that showcase thoughtful design, this really translates to how I style my space. I think my interior style will morph and grow as I do; never wanting to settle too deeply into one style or trend.

Photographed by Greta van der Star

Photographed by Greta van der Star

Photographed by Samantha Totty

Do you have any go-to things you do for your home if you’re wanting to change up the style?

We view BAINA as being one way you can change up the bathroom space. BAINA is thoughtfully designed in the same way a fashion collection has – as another way to reflect ones aesthetic. From a strict minimalist, who likes her sets to match, to the playful creative who likes to play with colour and texture. BAINA is designed to be an extension of your individual style. Regarding other living spaces, I find re jigging the living room from a flow perspective can really change how you feel about a space. We have a large dining living area, which I change from winter to summer. Keeping things cosier in the colder months, and breezy in summer. Other products that I tend to change out when wanting to mix up the mood, are fresh linens, new throw cushions and a rotation of my rugs. 

What are some things you’ve learnt since starting your own business? 

A big lesson has been vulnerability and flexibility. Particularly when our first year of business was an international pandemic. It was in this moment of uncertainty we were relieved to be in control of the narrative and direction of our brand. Something unavailable to you when working for someone else.

Are you working on anything new for BAINA that you’d like to share?

I can’t disclose too much, but we are continuing our exploration into deeper tones, new designs and have a couple of exciting collaborations with like-minded brands from across the globe.

Photographed by Greta van der Star

Photographed by Greta van der Star