about us
Hello!
We are Ailsa and Melissa, co-founders of bea. Thank you for visiting the site and seeing what we are about. There has been a great deal of thought put into all that we do and we look forward to hopefully having you as a customer.
bea is designed, made and created by us and a small team of tailors in Jodphur, India. Melissa met the tailors when she was in India and had a conversation about what they can make with their fabrics. Little did she know at the time, this meeting and chance conversation would lead to the creation of a loungewear brand just over a year later!
We are great friends and met at university just over ten years ago. Ailsa studied law and Melissa studied English Literature. We have both had busy and exciting careers in London, but wanted to break away from the rat race and find a more multi-hyphenated way of working.
We both grew up in East Sussex and, after spending time in London and Brighton, Ailsa returned to the Sussex countryside with her husband and daughters, Posy and Pandora. You will find them along with Melissa's nieces and nephews, Lara, Cole and Flynn, wearing our bea creations in many of the images we share! Melissa has recently moved from London back to Sussex and we are excited to once again be living close by to each other!
bea, was formed at the end of July 2020, relatively quickly through a want to keep busy during a tumultuous time and both having the desire to work together and create a product. Ailsa’s creativity through making clothes and sewing items herself, together with Melissa's experience working in fashion as well as curating sustainable brands for her online store A Circle Back, sparked a conversation about creating a business together. It is something that has often been on our minds, but finally we had some time to explore it further and bring the dream to life!
As friends we have always shared a love for design and enjoyed going to places which have been carefully curated and lovingly thought through. Ailsa has a passion for vintage and antique furniture and Melissa loves art and photography. We both enjoy the simple things in life: a wild country walk, all kinds of music, a delicious baked treat and a cosy evening with a glass of wine.
We wanted to make garments that allow you to move with ease and are versatile as well as being soft and a joy to wear. Both of us adore all things interiors so jumped at the opportunity to expand bea’s offering to include a selection of beautiful homewares. We have chosen our prints from a vast selection, curating together colours and patterns we love and offering variety for you as our customer. As we grow and evolve, if you like something particular, we would always love to hear from you, so please feel free to drop us a line: hello@bea-collective.com
We wanted to build a brand which promotes style and comfort in a sustainable and ethical way. We strongly believe that we all have a moral obligation to mend our bruised planet and therefore it has been very important to us that our choices are sustainable and our approach is responsible. We are using end of roll, block print fabrics that are otherwise wasted. We do not mass produce, we use up fabric and once it is sold out, it is gone. A portion of the profits from our sales will be donated to charities we champion, supporting women and children.
We look forward to you #WearingBea. Please share our brand with your loved ones and share your images of you enjoying your pieces. Thank you!
With love,
Ailsa & Melissa x