Six Years In: A Petal + Ash Update
When I zoom out and consider where I am with Petal + Ash, it’s the timeline that feels wild. The space between the idea that is now Petal + Ash? Six years.
I’ve learned that — under the best circumstances — building and launching a brand can easily take two years. Even with all the funding in the world, product development is an easy 12-18 months.
When you’re bootstrapping, like I am, it can easily take much longer. Bootstrapping (self-funding) translates to less money, less time (hello, day job), and getting really scrappy to get things off the ground.
In thinking back to some early day challenges, it was tough to get momentum going:
Suppliers wouldn’t answer my intro emails because they don't know me.
Suppliers would tell me I didn’t know what I'm talking about. (They were clearly not aligned to be my production partner—blessing in disguise.)
Life also got in the way…
It started in 2019.
I was experimenting with natural dyes during the pandemic. I had the idea to take some silk I'd dyed and sew it into a bra: the single act that birthed the idea for Petal + Ash.
Silks dyes from natural materials
This led me to research the intimate apparel industry where I discovered a gap: undergarments were largely either beautiful but made from synthetic materials and toxic dyes, or made of natural fibers but boring and basic. I enrolled in a sustainable fashion entrepreneurship accelerator. I was on a roll. Almost too early of a roll.
My idea was big. But I didn't yet have the network to support it.
The materials I needed existed, but only in pilot phases or in minimums of tens of thousands of meters. Not exactly feasible for a solopreneur starting out.
So my idea went on hold. For several reasons: a family tragedy that demanded a major shift in my time and energy, and grad school.
The research I'd conducted during the pandemic showed me something important: If you address a problem through only a narrow lens — like intimate apparel, or even fashion — you risk creating unintended impacts in other areas. I needed to zoom out and gain a macro perspective of sustainability. Only then could I zoom back into intimate apparel with the full picture.
And so, enter grad school.
My master's degree supported my journey in so many ways. It validated my idea. It grew my network. It gave me a grant to help source in Europe and the UK. It even led to my current day job as a sustainability advisor, supporting brands and nonprofits.
And in the time away, both the industry and consumer awareness caught up a bit.
Moving back into development, I’ve been letting the process lead me; to let each decision inform the next, rather than force a timeline that compromises the product.
On one hand, it’s allowed the time to figure out the best way forward, in designing a product that doesn’t yet exist in this specific way. On the other hand, the industry is catching up (which is great for consumers, but also means the gap I saw in 2019 is slowly closing). All the more reason to move with intention, not just speed.
Regardless, I finally feel like things are chugging along (though I’ve said that before, only to be stalled before I could finish the sentence). But this time, I mean it.
We’re about to solidify our fabric mill and manufacturing partner.
With just a few more conversations, and our next sample, we’ll be able to confirm our dye method and partner.
Once the above is set, we’ll make factory samples and then can begin fit trials.
And I finally have the development bandwidth to add trims (labels, hang tags, and all that) into the conversation.
All this puts us dangerously close to setting a launch date – and that is huge! Once these lingering decisions are made, I’ll understand what kind of runway we need to launch — and how to properly plan into said date.
(If you sign up for the Petal + Ash email list you’ll be the first to know when we launch!).
What this means (the messy middle)
There’s a lot of really unglamorous stuff day-to-day. It’s mostly just me in front of my computer: sending emails to suppliers, managing expected margins and planning a financial runway for launch, writing substacks, prepping Instagram posts, and most important at the moment — preparing our critical timeline to get to launch.
Petal + Ash Instagram
There’s also a lot of decision-making in product planning, and wrestling with how to match the ideal production with the realities of supply chains, minimums, logistics, material and dye capabilities, and more. And then layer on top of this all the requirements to make this product in alignment with our bodies and the planet. It’s a lot to juggle.
Why it matters
Each one of these decisions, from the materials and where they’re sourced, to the dye process, to the production partner vetting, and everything in between directly impact what touches your skin. And addressing these challenges now — while it slows down the process — will result in a better product for you. A bra and panty set that doesn’t yet exist on the market, and one that I know so many women want.
I’m so excited to dive into it all in the coming weeks and months leading to launch. But for now, in short, it means:
A luxe, breathable seaweed-based fabric with antimicrobial properties
organic cotton and natural rubber elastic
skin-safe dyes that won't leach nasty chemicals
You can't rush building something that doesn't exist yet. I have to remind myself of this. It takes time to build a network, gain knowledge, test materials, build a community. So, thanks for being here for the messy middle. It means more than you know.
