Guest Column: The Sister´s Start-Up LANASIA - A brand by women for women
THE IMPULSE TO FOUND A SISTER’S START-UP
The sister duo Anna-Sophia (22) and Lisa-Maria (24) have decided to found the sustainable fashion label LANASIA in 2018. The idea for an own sustainable company matured within them from a very early beginning: Growing up in the beautiful landscape of the Alps, they developed a strong sense of responsibility for our ecosystem in addition to their love in fashion. The increasing environmental pollution caused by plastic waste and extremely high CO2 emissions on our planet causes us great concern, because our ecosystem is irreversibly damaged. Especially the fashion industry leaves an enormous ecological footprint. To live in harmony with nature is an art that mankind has unfortunately forgotten - that is why the sisters aim to set a good example on how a young company can set important cornerstones for a sustainable corporate philosophy already in the founding phase.
CORPORATE PHILOSOPHY OF LANASIA
We are fashion lovers, nature lovers and power women - our fashion label should embody all these attributes. With our sustainably produced swimwear, activewear and womenswear, every woman should feel beautiful and strong. Our collections are created under the motto: Sexy & Sustainable.
To us, being sexy means to be proud of oneself, to emphasize one's own femininity and to stage it individually. For LANASIA, being sustainable means pursuing a holistic concept of sustainability and constantly improving these aspects. We mainly use recycled or natural materials for our high-performance clothing. At the same time, it is very important to us to form a community of consciousness in order to promote awareness of a more conscious use of natural resources in society and thus support slow fashion.
LANASIA stands for the perfect mix of feminine & sustainable designs and is committed to constantly developing and improving these attributes. Our vision is to inspire people all over the world and prove that sustainability can also be sexy – let’s create a wave of change!
WHAT DOES LANASIA MEAN?
The word LANASIA is made up of our own names. Anna-Sophia always called herself 'Ana-Sia' as a child, which is why we named our label after this funny anecdote. The L stands for Lisa-Maria and we also have a younger sister named Laura-Adelinda. That's why the logo of our fashion label is the double L. That's how we unite the diversity and femininity of three sisters in our label LANASIA!
FAMILY BUSINESS
Is it a good idea to run a start-up with your own sister? We are absolutely convinced of it! We have known each other all our lives and share the same values and ideas. Even though we are often not in the same place, we are in continuous exchange and inspire each other with our different mindsets. Of course, the best thing about our job is being able to spend much time with each other, chasing our dreams and evolving into the women we want to become.
OUR DAILY TASKS?
Anna-Sophia is the Co-Founder and Creative Director of our brand. She is responsible for the whole creative part in our company. Her vision of a strong, beautiful and feminine Lanasia Lady is reflected in all our collections. Next to developing collections Anna-Sophia is responsible for the campaign shootings, events in general and Content Creation for Social Media.
Lisa-Maria is the CEO and Co-Founder of LANASIA. She definitely is the strategic business woman in our start-up. She is always up to date with the latest information about which new shops are best suited to display our collections and she conducts all important sales talks. Lisa’s tasks are all marketing activities as well as the day-to-day business.
5 TIPS FOR STARTING A FAMILY BUSINESS:
1. Be authentic
A family business must be authentic: the values you represent yourself will also be accepted by your customers. The more authentic your own convictions and company philosophy are, the more successful the product will be!
2. Clear distribution of tasks
Even if you are used to carry out projects together as sisters, the tasks and the respective decision competences should be well distributed in order to avoid differences and to create the best possible productivity in the company.
3. Take your free time!
To run a family business means to be permanently occupied with the tasks of the company. It is very important to take some time off and to recharge your batteries. Your health and productivity will thank you for it!
4. Be courageous!
It takes time to let your own dreams become reality. Not everything will work out the way you want it to from the beginning. Even a vision has to be adjusted from time to time and concepts have to be critically reviewed and optimized again and again. Our credo: Learning by doing!
5. Build your dream team
Look for a reliable team! Don't take on too many tasks, delegate tasks to reliable employees and thus create your own circle of trust.
Visit https://www.lanasia.com/ to find all of their sustainable collections.