Motivated by Love, Solitude, and Stevie Nicks
For the girls with their head in the clouds and their hearts set on change. We’re getting deep with our favorite cult brand, Sugarhigh Lovestoned.
Saturday night to do list:
☐ download revolution by the beatles on itunes.
☐ smoke a j.
☐ stick it to the man.
in that order.
What can we say, there’s nothing better than the creative rush you feel when you’re motivated to make a change. Whether it be through fashion, art, music, love… the idea that you can inspire by creating has always kept us going. Needless to say, our favorite creators are the ones who aren’t afraid to say fuck you to the man. And in a world where every decision we make is surrounded by the corrupt exploitation of corporate greed, inequality and human’s blatant disregard for things that matter (like, the planet), it’s refreshing to see brands who are stepping it up to change the game.
When it comes to creating with a purpose, Sugarhigh Lovestoned knows how to get us all hot and bothered. Born on the island of Maui, Sugarhigh Lovestoned is an ode to taking things slow in the most radical way. Conceptualized by creative visionary Ginny Slim, Sugarhigh Lovestoned makes pieces that not only look incredible, but they make you feel good too.
How Did Sugarhigh Lovestoned come to be?
OMG, this would require a bottle of wine, maybe two…. But I can share a story of how it came to be: It came about after I quit working for a high-end Swim brand and honestly said fuck fashion and went back to retail. I started doing freelance graphics for other people. I was doing just fine - working 2 jobs - running from the surf shop in the am to the bikini shop in the afternoon then hitting the beach with the girls. Until one day one of my clients flew over, found me at work slangin’ bikinis and literally pulled me into the dressing room and was like - dude, what are you doing? You need to do your own thing - we’ll even help you with your first production run. Well - it was that, plus a sweet $10k we scraped together back when Kickstarter & feather hair extensions were still a thing.
We’re a team of 3.
So, at the top it’s just myself and Zach - who lives in Venice, CA and was one on MTV’s Real World, Key West. (yeah, he’s a total sweetheart and the absolute heart of the brand, so he was obvi voted the “most forgettable” character on the series. I’d personally take that as a huge compliment.) We chat with him numerous times day - it’s pretty much like he’s always right here with us. So, right now, and since the beginning of this year, I have one assistant. Her name is Suni. She is a dress designer in her own right, a photographer as well as a true visionary and has been nothing but a non-stop inspiration for me and the brand on so many levels. She has forever changed the course of this label for the better.
What inspired Sugarhigh Lovestoned? What is your mission?
OOOoof. Well, we’ve been in business for going on 11 years now, so what inspired me then, just embarrasses me now. We did the whole - psych+rock phase, Americana phase, 70s dead rock-star phase…. all of it. Now we are focused more on the old sayings my Uncle Sonny used to say, marijuana and human/civil rights. So, in other words, I think we’ve come out of our terrible tweens and are starting to really find our vibe and it truly unique.
How do you keep your pieces + process sustainable?
Listen, we’re not GOTs certified, we’re not plastic free (yet), and we still eat meat. BUT, we use only sustainable, natural materials that will stand the test of time - like 100% cotton. We only use non-toxic, water-based inks in our screen printing processes. (That’s because I worked in a print-shop for 3 years and I’m lucky I still have most of my brain cells) We do not believe in over-sampling, over producing or over designing. You will see this practice with other brands: often being shipped suitcases full of swatches to decide which print for which maxi dress - 90% of them literally end up in the landfill. Our swatches for the YEAR are literally taped to a half sheet of 8.5 x 11 paper. We only design what we sketch, and we only produce pieces we feel will do good for the season. We also recycle in the office and make lunches in house—so there are zero single-use containers in the office. I cook lunch for the team every day. I believe in feeding my people. I do this for our shoots as well. And lastly, my assistant has gotten me off to-go coffees, my last vice to give up during quarantine.
How do you make it a priority for Sugarhigh Lovestoned to foster inclusivity and diversity?
To be honest, I thought I was doing fine at it until Black Lives Matter came into play - then I had to take a long hard look at the brand. We’re on the right track now. Pretty excited to see where this new path take us. If you were also implying how we take on size inclusivity - we’ve just started on that track. It can be very costly to sample if you aren’t careful. It’s something I am truly passionate about and will be exploring further in the seasons to come.
Can you tell us more about how you’ve made Sugarhigh an active agent for change and speaking up for what you believe in?
I mean….we’ve always been loud in that way. As Kimo says in his “Hawaiin Rules to Live By,” - “Speak softly, and wear a loud shirt.” That was our motto. Things are changing somewhat regarding that rule now as of the BLM movement. Loud voices are now also encouraged if done with the hopes for a positive change. We’ve helped to collectively raise over $425K with Still We Rise auctions for BLM, Planned Parenthood and many many other orgs that she hosts. We also had a giveaway away, blanketing cities across America with over 1200 “Keep Your Laws Off My Body” stickers when they were banning abortions in the southern states last summer. We’re always up to something in that way.
Why do you think it’s so important for brands to speak up about issues of injustice?
That’s a hard question. When you say brands, do you mean fashion brands? And do you mean the little guys like us, or the corporate mega-brands? We know we feel it’s important to OUR brand, because we wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if we didn’t say something. It’s just so in our nature to take a stand.
And while we’re getting real deep, here’s a little bit more about the everyday workings of the Sugarhigh Lovestoned team.
What we eat for lunch:
Our favorite never-gets-old lunch is roasted sweet potato kale salad with my famous homemade dressing. And LaCroix, we drink them like it’s our job.
When do we show up for work?:
We start work at 10:30 AM—I firmly believe in taking your mornings for surf, exercise, or sleeping in.
Music we listen to in -office:
Literally always Suni’s DiscoveryWeekly on Spotify. How hers always so good, and mine is always so junk, I’ll never understand.
We also fill in with playlists our fans send us.
What a normal workday looks like:
On a Good Day:
We’ll surf the west side, then carpool back up to the office. I’ll make a scramble and we’ll chat about the session or Suni will download the footage we shot of each other in the water. Then we usually tackle emails, pack any boxes for the next day’s mail and make our lists to do once Suni leaves for the day.
On Most Days:
We unload anything and everything about our love-lives or lack thereof, talk about the state of the world because, how can you not….. Then we tackle emails, I’ll start making lunch and we follow the same path as we do on our good days.
Things we can’t live without having on-hand at all times at the office:
CBD joints from our literal faves at Dad Grass, pretty much every kind of capsule thingy that Moon Juice makes, and lots and lots of LaCroix.
Looking ahead:
This is our credo for our new FW20 collection — it’s an excerpt from Mary Schmich’s famous Sunscreen speech.
“Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.”
xo,
Ginny Slim
This editorial was shot entirely on film, using polaroids and 35mm film on Kodak Portra 400.
Model: @emmarichhh
Words: Kiana Kanoa
Photos: Kiana Kanoa
Set Props + Poster Design: Daervy Calibuso
Behind the Scenes Videography: Daevry Calibuso