Born from an instantaneous friendship, Conscious Citizen is the brainchild of Maria Bond and Yulia Ann, who bonded over what they both wanted out of life, along with what kind of world they wanted to live in and leave behind and after numerous conversations about the fashion climate and helping others. Their mission: to shine a positive light on fashion and sustainability while promoting a conscious lifestyle focused on progress rather than perfection.
As the duo prioritizes educating consumers on sustainability, they emphasize that it’s not an all-or-nothing approach. Maria and Yulia encourage a “progress, not perfection” mindset, celebrating small conscious wins each day. They believe in the power of trying, being aware of one’s actions, and remaining optimistic about the future.
At Conscious Citizen, comfort and staying on-trend go hand in hand with their ethos. When designing items, they consider the “feel-good factor,” focusing on classic designs, fit, and versatility. Their Citizen collection, inspired by the idea of a sustainable capsule wardrobe, features everyday basics designed to complement a variety of styles and activities. It features an array of loungewear sets, sweatshirts, joggers, and much more in several colorways, including slate grey, green, yellow, and brown among others. It sets the stage for the brand’s upcoming basics collection, slated to drop later this year.
From working out to lounging at home or dressing up with a blazer, Conscious Citizen offers pieces that adapt to every individual’s unique personal style. Continue scrolling to read our interviews with the labels’ founders.
Hi Maria and Yulia! Can you tell us more about the story behind Conscious Citizen and how you two met?
We met on Instagram at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. It was an instantaneous friendship at first sight. After a lot of conversations over the current fashion climate, a positive mindset, and helping others, Conscious Citizen was founded. Our mission is to shine a positive light on fashion and sustainability, while simultaneously implementing a conscious lifestyle focusing on progress not perfection.
It’s great to see that you prioritize educating consumers on sustainability. What are some of the most common misconceptions about sustainable fashion that you encounter?
Thank you for that, it is something that we prioritize with every decision we make using our 4 circular pillars. The most common misconception is that it is an all or nothing approach. We encourage a ‘progress not perfection’ mindset to help achieve those small conscious wins each day. The power of trying, being aware of your actions and positive about the future is essential.
I’m curious about the everyday basics that the brand offers, like joggers and sweatshirts. How do you balance comfort and staying on-trend while staying true to your ethos?
When designing out items, we take into account the #feelgood factor. We look at classic designs, the fit on the body, what makes a person feel confident and different body shapes that the items can form to. We encourage the versatility of styling our items to enhance their cost per wear and really show your true personal style.
What inspired the designs of your Citizen collection? Are they meant to be versatile and easily styled with other pieces?
At Conscious Citizen, our mission is to release a full capsule wardrobe using sustainable fabrics. These are the items that you wear on a daily basis, constantly have in your wardrobe to pair with old/new items, and are always your go-to pick for the day. We love seeing our items being worn doing so many different activities from playing the drums, working out, paired with a blazer, lounging at home, the list goes on!
That being said, can you share any tips on how to style your pieces in a fashion-forward way?
Styling is very subjective and really depends on what makes someone feel good and confident with their personal body type and shape. A recent trend we have seen is rolling the jogger cuff under in order to achieve a more relaxed jogger look, which is super cool and really feels like you are wearing a whole new item.
With the rise in labels such as your own, we’ve obviously seen a slight shift away from fast fashion brands since the pandemic. What do you think the future of sustainable fashion looks like?
We have had such a positive response since launching at the end of 2020. We trust that the future will see an increase in awareness of what items are made of, where they are sourced from and why they are being used. Consumers are becoming more involved and interested in the production process to allow for brands to be more transparent and instilling that need for education. The future of sustainable fashion is in the power of the consumers. If we demand a circular framework when purchasing an item, then the brands will have to provide this, resulting in a compound effect of a sustainable fashion world.
Lastly, what advice would you give to someone who is interested in starting in a clothing brand?
Find your why. Do the foundational work to find the meaning of what you want to start, and everything else will flow into place.
