Watch our story. . .
The Live Softly Ethos . . .
Our dream is to create a brand which is capable of rekindling values of care, kindness, compassion, social-justice and connection. We believe design has a responsibility to take on a larger social dimension & environmental stance; to empower and transform communities and connect us to nature and one another.
Live Softly work with marginalised craft producers in Nepal; partnering with a leprosy charity to provide employment, training and medical assistance. Our intention is to create consistent orders and sustainable employment for our makers and to develop thoughtful designs that tread lightly on the earth.
By purchasing Live Softly products you are supporting a new way of living that looks after the earth and the people on it.
“There is no beauty in the finest cloth if it creates hunger and unhappiness”
Mindful Design
Live Softly is design with a conscience. We want to take you back to the source, creating a story that links the user and the makers.
All of our products are machine free - made entirely by hand. We believe in slow fashion - our cases are made to gather stories with you. They are hand crafted covers for hi-tech devices. The perfect interplay of lo-fi meets hi-fi to house your laptop.
We follow the Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi - each case is unique and perfectly imperfect in its own way, just like us humans! Using your case is a daily reminder to live softly and respect people, products and the earth.
Fair Trade, Living Wage
Hand made in Nepal under Fair Trade conditions. Our Nepal partner is the Director of Fair Trade Asia and operates as a charity providing housing, medical assistance, schooling and a home for the elderly, employing and supporting people and their families affected by Leprosy. These care and social support services are not provided by the government in Nepal.
Each individual earns a living wage for life, even if they are unable to work or can only do very simple tasks due to their disabilities.
The purchase of one of our cases helps to create an income and independence for makers in Nepal, as well as education for their children and care for elders.
The Maker Connection
We operate a happy-to-happy business model. Which means connecting happy makers and happy consumers! We believe the more connected we feel to others and the earth the less harm we create.
We believe in transparency and in showing the makers and the process behind the products. Live Softly believe if we tell our story well the consumer will feel connected to the provenance of our products. We hope that by understanding the making process behind our products the buyer will develop a personal relationship with what they buy, helping to combat the 'throw away' mentality which marks our era. Our hand-felted laptop covers carry the stories of their makers.
Zero Waste, Plastic Free
Hand felting is an ancient technique using wool, soap and water to mat the fibres around a mould. Our cases are felted in one piece and seam free - so there are no seams to rip and zero waste of fibre in the making process.
The wool is sourced from the short fibre offcuts of the New Zealand wool industry which would otherwise be discarded. All NZ wool is required to adhere to ethical farming guidelines. The wool is dyed using AZO free dyes.
All Live Softly products are plastic free with minimal packaging and designed for longevity. We believe in buying less with more conscience.
An Auspicious Beginning
Live Softly began when a designer from Sydney, Elise Slater, left her career in fashion and followed her heart to go on an adventure to India and Nepal.
The name 'Live Softly' came while on retreat in India, it is a Buddhist philosophy which aims to tread as lightly on this earth as possible, to be conscious of your footprint on the world and act with mindfulness. On that first day of the Buddhist retreat Elise wrote the words 'Live Softly' on a leaf and left it on the ground for someone to find, and so Live Softly was born in to the world!
The trip to India sparked something and so Elise travelled to Nepal and during an eight week meditation retreat Elise learnt of a local crafts group who resided nearby on the same hilltop in Kathmandu...
This was no ordinary crafts group. They employ people and their families who are affected by leprosy and they set up affordable housing with free medical treatment. They transform the lives of people with leprosy from being outcasts and train them in fair trade craft skills, providing a reliable income and the ability to be self sufficient. New Sadle support each person they take on with a living wage for the rest of their life, regardless of their level of skill/speed or ability to work.
Elise wanted to support this amazing organisation, so using her 15 years experience as a designer & trend forecaster she created her first project with the craftspeople of Nepal - the Live Softly hand felted woollen laptop covers. It has been an ongoing process of collaboration and testing to design the cases and perfect the fastening and sizing - a true passion project between Elise and the makers in Nepal.
Live Softly is about returning to the source, creating a connection to where things come from and their makers. It is a dream of a life lived softly, where the provenance of products is respected, and so the idea of a disposable world becomes something of the past...
This is the start of an amazing journey for Live Softly, and one we hope you will be a part of as it continues to unfold and grow,
Elise Slater
contact: elise@livesoftly.co | www.eliseslater.com
Live Softly Founder, Art Therapist & Educator in Sustainable Fashion
“Our calling is where our deepest gladness and the worlds hunger meet”
