Saltandethic.com is half a website and half a laboratory for young designers; abiding by and promoting the motto 'responsible shopping'. In these times, when our environment needs our support to sustain, we should go with environment friendly products.Now using environment friendly products doesn't mean a compromise with your style and trends. And if you think the same, then Saltandethic.com is the place for you which is a marketplace as well as a community for young designers to meet and come up with creative and ethical products.
Launched in June 2011, all of their products are 100% eco-responsible and/or ethical without no loss of style. It is a European project, founded on the belief that only design and style will be able to introduce responsible consumption into pop culture.
Let's have a brief talk with Saltandethic's founder, Lorenzo:
Lorenzo, let's start with a brief introduction of yours.
For many years, responsible purchasing implied compromising either style or quality, until very lately when a new generation of young and talented designers brought a new approach to the creation and development of products. The result of it? Original, ethical and eco-responsible products with no loss of style. And here is when Salt and Ethic appears.
Tell us about the fascinating concept 'Salt And Ethic' uses.
Salt and Ethic is a virtual marketplace whose mission is to discover and introduce responsible design products. Unlike what has been done so far, we want to convince the customers to purchase responsible products not because they are ethical or sustainable, but because the products are beautiful, stylish and original. Sustainable products with no loss of style. That is what we look for. Furthermore, we want to stimulate the creativity of young creators and brands by bringing them to share ideas and maybe work together on exclusive collections. In a way, we would love to do what Andy Warhol did with The Factory. Our dream in fact is to become The Factory of responsible design.
How did you come up with this concept? We would love to know about the inception of 'Salt And Ethic'.
The idea of creating Salt and Ethic came from a big frustration. The frustration of seeing that as consumers we had to choose between purchasing stylish products or responsible ones.
Tell us about the range of products 'Salt and Ethic' offers.
Ranging from the legendary Vespa scooter upcycled into an office chair to organic sneakers that will bloom after worn out, to bags made from reused publicity banners or organic clothing coming directly from fashion design studios in London, Saltandethic.com offers over 200 cool, unprecedented and original items in categories such as women’s and men’s clothing, accessories, footwear, furniture, decoration, and lighting.
If you're asked to list Salt and Ethic's top three advantages/features, what would they be?
First of all, in a global world of impersonal consumption where, from Tokyo to Paris, from New York to Sydney, almost everybody wear the same clothes from H&M, Gap, Zara and Nike products, and the apartments’ furniture look all alike (Ikea, …), on www.saltandethic.com customers have the opportunity to find unique and original products with a story and a soul. Customers are actually directly purchasing in the studios and workshops of designers and creators in Barcelona, London, Paris, Berlin, … without moving from their place.
Secondly, on Salt and Ethic, purchasers fully contribute to make a better world. With our project Salt for Hope, we give back to our customers 4% on each purchase and give them the choice either to donate them to one of our partner foundations or to keep them for a next purchase. So the customer is really part of the global project.
Thirdly, we are an international and multilingual website. Therefore we inform and solve all customers’ doubts in their own language. Well, at least if they speak English, French, Spanish or Italian, and very soon German too.
Salt and Ethic's mission is to discover and introduce new talents in responsible design. How do you foresee the mission accomplished?
We are only at the beginning of our journey and the best is yet to come. But so far, we are really happy with the brands we succeeded to convince to join our project. Right now, we are working with more than 20 brands and designers. Some of them, like Sawa shoes or Ecoalf are making their way in this industry very fast. Some others are at their early stages and it is quite exciting to think that we can maybe somehow contribute in helping them to make it to the top.
Whatever happens, we will always be grateful to those 20 first brands which trusted us from the beginning. When we contacted them we did not even have the website ready. So they really joined us on a leap of faith.
Share with us your pre-launch experience. What the major difficulty that you faced?
The major difficulty that we faced was without any doubt the management of our own lives. When starting a new adventure like the one of building up your own company, you have to be aware that from that moment on, there will no more be any separation between your private life and your work. The project will take all your time and all your thoughts at least until it will fly by its own. If at one point you do not take some distance, you will find yourself having to face serious issues in your private life.
Share your fondest memory with 'Salt and Ethic'.
We could mention 1000 good memories, but if we have to choose one, it would probably be the first “yes” we got from a brand we wanted to work with. It was our first contact with a brand after having worked in the shade for months struggling with all the problems involved in the creation of Salt and Ethic. Therefore this “yes” meant an injection of hope and positive energy.
What are your dreams/vision for 'Salt and Ethic'?
As mentioned before, our dream is to become, in line with Andy Warhol’s Factory, a networking and interactive site for talented “up-and-coming” ethical brands and designers, aspiring to stimulate global eco-creativity. We want to be a meeting point for designers, artists, brands and specialised schools where everybody could exchange ideas, share experiences and initiate collaborations in order to stimulate creativity. To make it simple, we dream about becoming The Factory of responsible design.
Since you've recently started up, one can look up to you for a best advice. What message do you have for them who aspire to make a mark online?
Never give up. You can have the most well prepared project, you will always find barriers on your way. But keep believing in you and your project.
And a final word for readers?
Creating a company is definitely an exciting journey that we would recommend to all of you. But it is also true that there is never a finish line to this journey. Specially for online businesses where everything changes so fast. That is why, we kindly invite you to come visit us at www.saltandethic.com and let us know your feedback about what you see.
Thank you for having read us.
Lorenzo, thank you for being with us. You guys are on a great mission with Salt and Ethic. I hope it goes a long way. Wish you all the luck! :)
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