Q&A: Status Gaea Is Simplifying The Process of Shopping Sustainable Fashion
Photos By Simrah Farrukh and Tatiana Patron
ROOTED IN A DESIRE TO COMBINE THEIR PASSION FOR FASHION AND SUSTAINABILITY - Status Gaea founders Toni Mills and Mandy Rivas are raising the standards for the fashion industry. After working in the fashion industry the duo realized they were ready for a change and knew they could tie their love for fashion with sustainability and social justice. Through the creation of Status Gaea, Mills and Rivas have been able to do just that. The name itself “Status Gaea” comes from the belief that “the only status that matters is protecting “Gaea”, Mother Earth in Greek mythology.”
It’s no secret that sustainability has become a more prevalent topic than ever before, and many fashion lovers have vocalized the need to shift away from fast fashion. Status Gaea makes the process of finding stylish, ethically sourced and sustainable pieces an easy process through their curated site.
The women behind Status Gaea have made it their mission to make sustainable fashion a more inclusive process, making the overall opportunity to shop ethically sourced clothes accessible to all interested in shopping in a way that doesn’t damage our planet. Featuring both big and small business, the pieces Status Gaea feature and sell all play a role in leading a more sustainable life.
In addition to valuing sustainability, Status Gaea also supports the social causes centering around breaking through systemic racism and sexism within the fashion industry. The brand has pledged to have at least 15% of the brands they work with be Black-owned businesses and continues to curate pieces from BIPOC-owned and Women-owned businesses as well.
Mills and Rivas play a role in truly every aspect of their business and have been able to tap into their creativity by serving as the creative directors and curators for all of their visual content and pieces. View some of their pieces from their new drop below and read more to learn about Status Gaea.
LUNA: What led to you two coming together and creating Status Gaea?
STATUS GAEA: We both have long standing careers in the fashion industry, having worked at brands like Burberry, The Gap, and The RealReal where both of us worked closely together.
In mid 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic we were both looking for our next career move, and after realizing we wanted to promote sustainability and social justice within the fashion industry we decided to launch our own business bringing together our skills in merchandising and editorial/content production.
We both have a strong point of view and were struggling to find one online location that sourced stylish fashion, beauty, and lifestyle pieces from sustainable and ethical brands. A lot of our friends seemed to be in the same boat so we said f*ck it let’s do it ourselves.
LUNA: I love the overall aesthetic you have for all of your shoots and branding. What do you like about exploring this creative avenue through your business?
STATUS GAEA: Thank you! The nice thing about running Status Gaea is that we’re able to utilize skills and talent that we’ve acquired over the years, the business has really become our creative outlet.
When coming up with the overall aesthetic, we knew we wanted film imagery that captivates raw emotions. We love films’ quality for all of it’s graininess and imperfections which we think goes hand-in-hand with the type of brands and products we’re promoting. Every product on our site needs to match up to at least one sustainable and one ethical value such as organic, artisanal, low waste, fair labor, BIPOC-owned and women-owned.
We’ve shot everything locally in the San Francisco Bay Area so far. We’re extremely fortunate because we have so many varied landscapes around the area and an amazing network of creatives that we were able to work with. It’s been a pleasure to collaborate with the photographers and models that share our point of view, all who have been women of color.
LUNA: What role do you like to play in the creative direction and side of your projects?
STATUS GAEA: As we’re still a small business, we pretty much do it all! We start with the art direction by creating mood boards and location scouting. We always incorporate natural resources into our shoots so everything has been shot outdoors so far.
We have a great network of brands that we collaborate with and after pulling all of the samples we get to have fun with the styling.
Storytelling and content production is something we’re passionate about and currently exploring adding this brand service to our business model.
LUNA: Can you share a little bit about your shoot for this launch (we constantly launch new products weekly on our site however the images provided are for our spring/summer campaigns)?
STATUS GAEA: For Spring and Summer we wanted to mix high and low products that were easy to wear. For our previous shoots we had a more neutral tones however for this shoot we knew we wanted to incorporate mood boosting colors that would be fun to wear as things open back up over the summer.
We were able to collaborate with some fun smaller brands for this shoot such as Polite Worldwide who make sunglasses made from bio-based acetate (sustainable wood and cotton fibers), they’re eco-friendly and most importantly biodegradable. The bra is from Studio Pia which makes luxury lingerie from deadstock and peace silk, cruelty-free, and with fair labor practices.
Some of the images below are from Spring where we scouted out a beautiful spot in San Francisco that had wild flowers in bloom. For Summer we were looking for cliffs that elicited a mediteranian beach vibe, and we were amazed when we came across one of the world’s largest slickenside rocks which happens along faults, right in the middle of San Francisco.
LUNA: You’ve been able to collaborate with some incredible photographers including our friend Simrah. What do you like about collaborating with other creatives in this capacity?
STATUS GAEA: We love working with photographers that have strong ties to film imagery. It’s so fascinating collaborating with different creatives because each one has their own expertise which results in the final shot.
Simrah was a pleasure to work with and has a great eye for capturing the people who wear the items. We also have worked with creative photographer, Tatiana Patron, on multiple shoots. She is amazing with capturing landscape and nature along with the mood of the model and product. She’s given us some epic shots!
LUNA: Visually, are there any key inspirations you look to for the look/feel of your pieces and style?
STATUS GAEA: When we curate the product for our site we look for items that are inspirational and functional. We do mix high and low items because we believe that style is not just about wearing luxury “branded” pieces head-to-toe. We’re sourcing from global brands, small to large, but the common thread is that they all adhere to at least one of our sustainable and one of our ethical values.
We want to keep the assortment fresh on our site so we’re always updating it weekly with new fashion, beauty and lifestyle finds.
LUNA: If you could pass on any words of wisdom to any women looking to get into business but feel excluded, what would you like to share?
STATUS GAEA: Both being women of color, we’ve experienced marginalization and discrimination, so we know first hand the hardships that others might face when starting or building a business. Therefore it’s extremely important for us to provide a platform that supports other women and BIPOC-owned brands and ensure they are represented.
Starting a business is definitely not for the faint hearted. It takes a lot of dedication and resilience to failures, but if you look on the bright side you can end up learning a lot and build up skills that can really take you anywhere. What we’ve learnt is that there’s never a “right” time to launch a business. If you have an idea, passion, and the support network, just go for it. You’re the only one that can really determine your vision and success so don’t be afraid to put yourself out there.
Reach out to people as much as you can. You might be surprised at how open people and brands can be to supporting your vision. Networking and sharing resources is really important, not only do you get to build a trusted circle of like-minded people but you also never know if one might lead you to an opportunity.
LUNA: What is the first step consumers can take to leading a more ethical and sustainable lifestyle?
STATUS GAEA: Start at home by incorporating small sustainable changes into your daily life. If everyone focuses on the small things that we can do everyday, it can really make a difference. Walk or bike when possible, eat less meat, choose reusable items over one-use plastic, think about the packaging such as switching to soap bars over bottled hand soap, and really consider how often you would use an item before purchasing.
Once you start training yourself to think this way, it really becomes easier and easier to make conscious decisions.
LUNA: In what ways would you like to see Status Gaea grow this year?
STATUS GAEA: This year is all about brand awareness and growing our followers. We are very value driven and constantly updating our site with informative editorials so we hope that the more eyes on us, the more we can help change the consumer mindset to a more sustainable one.
LUNA: What intentions do you have for the upcoming months?
STATUS GAEA: We just launched home products on our site so we’re currently sourcing from new lifestyle brands. We also launched a styling service for those looking to refresh their wardrobe with a team of experts. We’re providing this service virtually at the moment which is very exciting because we’re able to style and assist globally.
We’re also very excited about things opening up over the summer and will be testing a few in-person events in California. Stay tuned!
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