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Interview with Alicia Lai, Founder of Bourgeois Boheme
In this interview, founder Alicia Lai shares knowledge gained from managing Bourgeois Boheme, a compassionate fashion boutique that offers a range of ethical fashion accessories for both men and women.
The London UK-based company has an online store and a showroom in London, and every product offered is free from animal ingredients (suitable for vegans). Bourgeois Boheme has an ethical-business model that aims to educate consumers that their conscious choice of an ethical product does make a difference in how people, animals and the environment are treated in the commercial world.
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS
- Ethically-produced products can be price competitive and do not have to carry a price premium
- How Bourgeois Boheme sources ethically-produced products
- The satisfaction of living your values in your work
- Are ethically-product products as stylish as other products in the marketplace? Would Sarah Jessica Parker wear them?
LISTEN NOW (press play below)
TRANSCRIPT
Patrick Dominguez, Green Business Innovators:
Hello, this is Patrick Dominguez with Green Business Innovators, and I am here with Alicia Lai, the co-founder of Bourgeois Boheme. Welcome Alicia.
Alicia Lai, Bourgeois Boheme:
Thank you, Patrick.
Patrick Dominguez: Tell us about Bourgeois Boheme.
Alicia Lai: Okay. Bourgeois Boheme is a mainly online-based business and we provide fashion accessories, fashion with compassion, which is basically cruelty-free fashion that has been produced in an ethical means, as well. We provide a sort of vegan and veggie products that cater to the demands of people that are looking for cruelty-free and environmentally-friendly products. The primary market I suppose is vegan and vegetarians, but we are also trying to target you know ethical and environmental people who are conscious about what they are wearing.
Patrick Dominguez: And what kind of products can people buy from your company?
Alicia Lai: Well, we can buy a vast array of basically footwear, bags, wallets, purses and cosmetics. Basically, sort of all the fashion accessory side of things, and they are all produced with non-animal-based products including glues, etc. And also in more sort of eco-friendly products such as microfibers and hemp and organic cottons and things like that.
Patrick Dominguez: How did you choose the products that you sell?
Alicia Lai: It was really hard, but we started sort of 3 years ago finding products that sort of meet our aims of cruelty-free, no animal products, ethically produced etc. So, we went and visited lots of trade fairs within Europe and in the UK, speaking to wholesalers and starting off with getting products through wholesalers. They would need to meet our criteria. So, we started off on that aspect and as we have sort of grown over the last 3 years we are sort of in a position now that we can start producing our own range, which is quite exciting.
Patrick Dominguez: Tell us about your own range.
Alicia Lai: Basically, we have a women and men’s range. Our first range for men is called Espiritual. We made it in Portugal, and it has men’s more dressy shoes, I suppose. Because that is what a lot of men were looking for. Then we have our women’s range which is Giva, from India basically. Then we have bags and belts that are made in the Philippines. So, we have hand picked the factories, where we’ve had our own products made. We have visited the factories in the Philippines and Portugal, spoken to the workers because it is important for us to trace our product from the start to the finish. After 3 years you would hope that we have got a bit more of an idea of what our customers want. We are just hoping to fill the gap in the market that we fill people need, which is a good middle range price of ethical fashion out there.
Patrick Dominguez: I am looking at your shoes right now. We are sitting in their lemon showroom and your men’s shoes seem quite dressy, quite nice and the women’s shoes seem to me very attractive. I could easily imagine Sarah Jessica Parker wearing these shoes.
Alicia Lai: Which is great. Yes, so that is exactly the aim we are looking for. I think that the general consensus out there is vegan/veggies, a sort of hippie and dread locks and you know we just wear black and really clunky big shoes, but we are pretty normal people. So, we are trying to provide a range that not even just the average sort of vegan/veggie compassionate fashion person would wear, but also basically anybody who would want to wear these products would look good and feel good wearing what we have.
Patrick Dominguez: What about pricing?
Alicia Lai: For our women’s range the average price is about 45 pounds. For the men’s it is about 55 pounds on the average across the ball range of our products. Bags and belts, you know anything from 15 pounds to 25 pounds.
Patrick Dominguez: So, it strikes me that you are not really charging a premium for what you offer. The shoes that I have seen on the high streets or the retail streets of London are at a very similar sort of price.
Alicia Lai: Yes. That is what we are trying to aim for. I think for me we sometimes get a bit frustrated that when you look at green issues and green fashion you know you have to pay a high price tag. If people want to be green and ethical and compassionate, we wanted to make it affordable. Which we find generally it may not be necessarily the case. So, that is what we are trying to aim for so that it is a lot easier for people to follow their philosophy of being green.
Patrick Dominguez: Which products are you selling the most of right now?
Alicia Lai: We sell a lot of ladies shoes basically. That is our biggest seller, women’s footwear, which is fantastic. You know we have had rave reviews on them and I have a few pairs myself. So, that is the main thing followed by I would say closely, you know not far behind men’s shoes as well. Because there are not a lot of dressy high fashion men’s shoes out there.
Patrick Dominguez: Do you have a problem with returns? Because I know shoes are an item where you really want to have a good fit.
Alicia Lai: Yeah, exactly. That is why later this weekend we opened up our first retail showroom in London. It is the first in London, which is surprising because after all of these years you would think a great fashion city capital would have a cruelty-free or fashion with compassion stores. So that is one of the main emphasis on behind why we opened it is because probably a high percentage of our returns or exchanges are due to a fitting issue. It is hard, you know we all have wide or bunions or all sorts of different sized feet. So, it is an issue, but with the store hopefully this is one factor that will sort of reduce that down.
Patrick Dominguez: Are there any other shops in London that sell this sort-of product - animal-free, cruelty-free product?
Alicia Lai: No, not really.
Patrick Dominguez: Like exclusively selling this sort of product.
Alicia Lai: No. We are the first. So, it is quite exciting.
Patrick Dominguez: That’s surprising in a city of 7.5 million people.
Alicia Lai: Exactly.
Patrick Dominguez: No one would have done this before.
Alicia Lai: Exactly. So, it has always been our dream to do that. So, we are quite excited that we are the very first in London. You know it is a humble beginning with a little showroom, but we are hoping that once people know about us and we can start going up to a high street and therefore we can sort of educate even thus the average person out there, that what they have to wear does not have to come from a cruel source really.
Patrick Dominguez: How successful has the company been so far?
Alicia Lai: It’s getting there. I am still not being paid, but hey. It is a lot of hard work. We have been running for 3 years. Van and I basically ran it for the first two-and-a-half years on our own. We have our own day jobs, so we are doing this as well in the evenings, on the weekends. Now, sells have sort of doubled each year. So, it is slowly growing and we have had the luxury of having 2 other girls now, Kate and Vicka here to come and start helping us grow the business. Then, that will give us more time to be able to develop the business and slowly get it going into where we want it to be really.
Patrick Dominguez: I should add that they are a husband/wife team.
Alicia Lai: We are. We are still married.
Patrick Dominguez: So, how has that been?
Alicia Lai: It’s fine, it’s fine. You know, obviously you have your little arguments and things, but for us we work well as a team. I am the main drive behind it I suppose. Van is sort of the IT/finance man. I am sort of the product person. So, it has worked well.
Patrick Dominguez: So, it sounds like you have complimentary skills you bring to this venture.
Alicia Lai: Oh yes, we do. We do, we do. You know we agree to disagree sometimes, but hey you know that is all part of the process. It has been fine. It has been great. It is hard work. The business is growing. The popularity is getting there. So, we feel good that we are able to start a business that follows our ethics and our philosophy behind what we are doing. We feel as though we are making a difference out there. A little step at time will make a difference and our customers really appreciate that. It is good. It gives us a good feeling.
Patrick Dominguez: Where are your customers located? And who are your target customers?
Alicia Lai: Well, our customers are all over the world basically. Our main 2 areas are obviously the UK. The US is the next big market, but all over the world really. We have people all over Europe down to Australia and New Zealand, Japan, Singapore. So basically, all over the place. So, the demand for products is there. The primary target market for us I suppose is the vegan/veggie market, but with all the sort of green ethical issues that are coming up now, often the ethical side of fashion is being brought up in regards to fur and leather and cruelty and factory farming etc. People like Stella McCartney and Natalie Portman have just come out with their own vegan line of shoes. We are slowly trying to educate people out there that you know you can look great, but you can also feel great from the inside too. Which is what we are trying to bring forward with our products.
Patrick Dominguez: That’s nice. What kind of marketing and PR are you doing to get the word out about your company?
Alicia Lai: Oh dear, that is a million pound question too isn’t it. For us, we are finding at the moment, we have employed PR companies before, but it is a very in-house thing that we are doing here with the 3 of us, the three girls. We are finding basically web-based marketing and PR is the best. The things like social networking, bloggers, getting out there and seeing what other people are doing. That is the sort of main thing that we do. We do not find print media or things like that work so well for us. It is a matter of having a nice family community feel and getting to know people that we find works best for us.
Patrick Dominguez: Are there magazines in this space that cover green products?
Alicia Lai: There are a couple of sort of vegan/veggie magazines like Lifescape magazine and the Vegan/Veggie Society and that sort of thing. But slowly, you can see that there are more green and ethical magazines coming out. New Consumer and Ethical Living and that sort of thing. We are trying to cover all of our bases in respect toward these areas.
Patrick Dominguez: What are some new developments coming up for your company over the next say 6 months to a year?
Alicia Lai: Well, our new shoe range basically. We have just in production now in the factories in Portugal. We have our new range of men and women’s shoes which have organic cotton, hemps, uppers as well due to rubber soles. So, we are quite excited about our new range.
Patrick Dominguez: When will that launch?
Alicia Lai: Hopefully, June. If you could tell me how to chat to the factories, but hopefully June. Basically, they are going to be launched a little bit late for the summer, but also one of the key things with our range is that we want to keep them fashionable, but also try trans-seasonal, so that this throw away culture of fashion these days. We want our products to look great, last great and also work through the season. So, we are really looking forward to that range. The shop is another great thing that has just happened on the weekend. I suppose over the next 6 months we have lots of requests for our shoes wholesale to get out the bricks and mortar. We always have lots of people asking us where our products are stocked. So, that is one of the next things we need to look at is getting our shoes out there where people are able to access them, try things on, feel and touch them basically. So, that is another big thing we are looking at.
Patrick Dominguez: So, lots of opportunities. What are some of the challenges or hurdles that you are running into in running your business?
Alicia Lai: Well, you know. I suppose everyone knows that money is the big thing isn’t it and time. This company, Van and I basically self-financed. You know that is always the way. We are slowly getting there. We are working towards educating people out there; consumers and well as different retailers about what our products are and why do they give us blank looks when we say our shoes do not have leather. Hurdles such as those simple things and actually knowing what we should do. You know, because Van and I do not have any experience in this. He is sort of IT and I am in health. So, it is a matter of ourselves learning. It is a big, steep learning curve. So, it is just trying to get a little bit of advice out there a step at a time and hopefully we can get there.
Patrick Dominguez: What kind of advice would you give someone who is thinking of starting an online business.
Alicia Lai: Oh my, don’t do it. No, do it, do it. No, it is great. You just have to be prepared for a lot of hard work and a lot of time. You probably won’t have a life for maybe 3-5 years when you start the business. For an online perspective I would say you know do lots of research and have a look at what is out there. We are very lucky, we have a niche market, so we don’t have as much competition. It depends on what people want to do out there. Very important I suppose for online is great developers to really to start your site, talk to people, try and talk to different online companies to see what hurdles they had in trying to start up, which is something we did not do and we had lots of hurdles to jump over. We got there in the end. Just speaking to people and at least getting lots of advice I think. Keep it simple. The KISS principle to start off with. Don’t try and be too flashy and crazy with the site, something that is functional, etc., is great.
Patrick Dominguez: Probably good advice for any website.
Alicia Lai: Yes, that it is true.
Patrick Dominguez: Alicia, this is obviously a business founded from a sense of personal purpose.
Alicia Lai: Yes.
Patrick Dominguez: What keeps you inspired day-to-day as you are working hard on this business?
Alicia Lai: I suppose it is all of the great positive comments. We get people e-mailing practically daily saying thanks for the products and we are really happy that we found you. Also, that we a slowly making a difference I think out there too. You know, people are getting to know what our products are and why we are doing it. We are making a difference out there. I don’t know, it sounds silly, but we love animals so it is great to know that there are not so many out there dying for us. It is great. Just knowing that we are making a difference as small as it is just keeps us going really. Yes.
Patrick Dominguez: Are there any other thoughts that you would like to share with our listeners today?
Alicia Lai: Our business, we started it because it is something that we have always wanted to do. It is our philosophy. We wanted to make a difference and go out there and do it. You know, we are all sort of small out there. I think we all sort of start somewhere and I would say don’t let anything hold you back. Just go out there and give it a try. It is better to try something and regret something that you’ve done rather than not. Go out there and do it.
Patrick Dominguez: So, where can people find your shop on the web?
Alicia Lai: www.bboheme.com - short for Bourgeois Boheme and obviously we have our retail store here in Richmond, London.
Patrick Dominguez: Okay, well Alicia, I thank you for sharing all of your insights and stories about founding and running your business.
Alicia Lai: Great. I hope that it is interesting. Thank you very much, Patrick.
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