Here at Because we’re big fans of BITE Studios. The brand landed on our radar back in 2018, just a couple of years after launching in Stockholm, Sweden. We were captivated by its founder’s determination to bite back at an industry soiled with wrongdoings that were damaging our planet, at a time when sustainability wasn't something everyone was shouting about.


We’ve come to love their easy-breezy silhouettes and timeless designs, finding ourselves slipping on their crisp cotton shirts and tailored separates when in need of chic comforts. But it's not just BITE’s versatile offering of wardrobe essentials that have our fashion tastebuds tingling, it's also their commitment to reshaping the “sustainable fashion” sector and tackling the biggest issue our industry faces head-on.

Materiality is at the heart of every collection, think seaweed fabrics (made in collaboration with French artist Violaine Buet, who hand harvests seaweed for textiles), pineapple and corn leather, rose petal fibres and pea silk (whereby the silkworms survive the process and the fabric is not chemically treated). With these innovative design-led solutions, often made in collaboration with pioneers in the field, and a fabric-first mindset, BITE prove that eco-aware clothes can be made without a hint of greenwash.

BITE recently launched on Matches Fashion, marking a further expansion of its reach, with a pre-fall collection featuring peace silk shirts, Italian wool overcoats, linen paper bag sets, signature long-sleeve jersey tops and suits. A collection for inspirational, confident women, that aspires to dress the next generation of leaders.


We caught up with husband-and-wife founders Veronika Kant and William Lundgren to find out more…

Can you tell us why you chose the name BITE (a.k.a By Independent Thinkers for Environmental Progress) and why it's important to your brand?
"It sums up everything we do in one sentence. We have always been very interested in both design and fashion, but also in environmental issues and the bigger picture. When we started, we didn't understand why no one else was doing it. The name sums up everything we aspired to do."

How have your backgrounds outside of fashion influenced your materials-focused process and dedication to sustainability?
"We're both from finance backgrounds. We’ve worked with NGOs and specialised in supply chains and logistics, but not in fashion. It's interesting to pair a creative mindset with a business mindset, and we believe it's a necessary approach to best handle both. Our unique perspective of not being from the industry allows us to do things differently, which can be healthy sometimes."


How do you balance ethics-driven work with being commercially successful?
"Our fabrics are more expensive, and sometimes we start over from the beginning if we can't do a design in a sustainable way. We believe in building the sustainability strategy from the beginning rather than adding it later. We have the right price point in the designer segment, and our partners and shareholders share our long-term vision."

Can you explain your process of sourcing fabrics and why they are important to your brand?
"We work in close relationships with suppliers, exchanging fibres and developing qualities for our material library. We focus on top-quality organic fabrics like wool, cotton, and silk. We believe working with organic materials is the ultimate luxury, and our latest collection is mostly organic and low-impact fibres."

How does circularity play a part in your design process and the longevity of your garments?
"We consider the end of life of our garments and design for potential recycling or afterlife. Our latest collection is nearly 70% mono materials, and we focus on natural fibres for biodegradability. We also have a lifetime guarantee program where customers can sell their old garments back to us, and we create new garments from them."


How have you seen the sustainable fashion landscape change since 2016?
"When we started, there were very few talking about sustainability, but from 2016 to 2018, there was a lot of focus on it. However, the conversation has shifted a bit since the pandemic. We believe we're in the middle of something significant, and while there may be a battle between the old and new worlds, sustainability is the only way forward."

What are your hopes for the future of BITE and sustainable fashion?
"We have high hopes for BITE and what we're doing. We want to build a beautiful world aesthetically and believe design is a powerful method for driving change from within. We want to be a part of the new softer power in the world and dress that person who represents emotional intelligence.”

By Augustine Hammond