Country: Germany What: Intimates | For: Women | Style: Urban, fun | Category: Ethical Brand
I mainly draw my inspiration from city-escapes and interior design. As much as I like to follow trends and see ‘what’s hot now’, I try not to look too intensely at forecast reports so as to not be too persuaded from outside sources.
Personally, I found it exhilarating to travel to different cities across Europe and South America and let myself be surprised by unexpected color combinations found in architecture, street-art or even fruit-stalls for example.
I’m also a super-fan of hyper-colour interior design, so I like to take the feeling of enticing spaces and translate that into my work.
‘Our designs at Tizz & Tonic are basic with a twist – we have that little extra somethin’-somethin’.
We want our items to be everyday options but not mundane or routine. So we keep our design looks simple and easy-to-wear with add in extra flare – be it printed fabrics, colour-blocking or fun seaming.
I always knew that I wanted to work with clothing and textiles. From a young age I used to cut-up and mash-up my clothes so each piece in my closet had its own story.
I taught myself how to hand sew around the age of 8 and got my first machine when I was about 12.
During my studies in Toronto at George Browns Fashion & Techniques program I was buzzing with creative ideas but lacked money and space.
So I started channeling this energy into underwear design as I could pattern draft and sew intimates on my fold-down table with as little as a quarter meter of fabric. And from there, my love of underwear design bloomed.
Hands-down our Valerie Bralette. We’ve designed a really awesome bralette that fits many different body shapes and sizes because of the way we’ve cleverly incorporated stretch Tencel mesh panels in all the right places so the bralette stretches to fit and keeps our buyers’ ta-tas in check.
Each bralette is made-to-order and because of this we don’t have a big return rate which is awesome for our buyers, us and the environment.
First comes the idea then this idea is put on paper as we draft out how each piece will be made into a pattern and how that pattern will fit and be sewn together once it’s cut into fabric.
We still do our pattern drafting by hand, so there is a lot of trial-and-error, prototypes, going back to the drawing board and doing it again until it’s just right.
Once the design and staple size is determined and we’re happy with it, we grade the pattern into our size range and plan the production.
Conceptualizing the collection is the most fun though. We normally come together with colour-palette and print ideas, throw all of these ideas onto the floor in our studio, and see what comes of it.
♥ ♥ ♥
The intimates sector is fierce. Staying competitive and on people’s minds is a challenge as many brands can offer similar products (though not Tizz products) at a faster rate and cheaper.
But we’re here to do it differently – curated mini-collections with sustainable feel-good practices is the fabric of Tizz & Tonic. Plus, German production is not as easy to come by anymore.
So we’re just going to keep making noise and waving our panty flag in the air until all the cool kids find us.
In recent years we have noticed that it is not enough to be “a sustainable brand”. You have to go the extra step as sustainability is becoming the norm (at least here in Europe).
We always try to push the story of our little brand and offer extra flare that shows we are different. Not only sustainable, but also fashionable, fully women owned company, plus small production in an old cocktail bar.
We want to keep it fun!
I would be an interior decorator or a designer of some sort- there is no other option for me. I think it’s the only thing my brain likes to do!.
Arriving at the studio early, making a big ol’ cup of coffee and sewing while listening to the latest episodes of my favourite podcasts. It’s a ritual.
Bremen, Germany
www.tizzandtonic.com
IG: @Tizzandtonic
FB: tizzandtonic
TikTok: tizzandtonic
#tizzandtonic
Tizz&Tonic products are designed and produced/handcrafted in Bremen Germany at our HeadQuarters which is an old cocktail lounge that we have converted into our production area, office and events space.
Tizz & Tonic products are designed by us in Bremen except for our socks which are produced in Bulgaria. After the fabric arrives at our workroom, we handle the entire production process. This includes creating the designs, making the pattern pieces and all the sizes, cutting the cotton, sewing the garments from start to finish.
The organic cotton fabric that we purchase for our intimates come from certified organic cotton producers in India. The super soft micromodal comes from Dairago MI, Italy.