Q+A With Baina
Last week we were elated to share the third instalment of our Q+A series with Anna Fahey - co founder of Baina - home of the modern checkerboard and its' curated family of antipodean towelling.
What came as a surprise to many of our guests, was that we were bringing it back to where it all began for Anna and co founder Bailey, who grew up as school friends here in Hamilton. Following their years at Sacred Heart Girls, they ventured to Auckland and Sydney where their careers intertwined, working for renowned international brands in fashion and interior. Meanwhile, toying with ideas on what to do when inevitably creating something of their own.
Bathing was a ritual they both cherished as a daily exercise of retreat. Upon deeper analysis, they identified it as a task that held the values of season-less inclusivity; synonymous with the ethos they always shared for a considered offering. They also felt a genuine gap for quality and design in towelling, from their experience selling in the interior market - cautious not to contribute to an already saturated market.
Baina - meaning 'bathe' in french, as well as a coincidental joining of their names (Bailey and Anna) was incepted, to immediate reception globally. Between 2019 and today, Baina now offers a full collection of styles available in the world's most decadent stockists such as Nordstorm, Moda Operandi and Liberty, to name a few. They achieved a GOT Certification (Global Organic Textile Standard) and have their eyes set on a BCorp, demonstrating their enduring sustainability commitment, by aiming for the highest verified standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability.
Anna discussed quality and its 'prominence amongst their list of 'non negotiables' when incepting the brand. They immediately established a partnership with the world's top terry towelling supplier in Portugal, and insisted on double looped cotton to create the most absorbent, enduring product available. All in all, Baina embody everything we love to share with our community through this space, and to bring the two together was, as always, epic.
