When we talk about Goooders, born from the mind and creativity of Eva Geraldine, it’s easy to lose yourself into long, passionate stories of their products and the communities that are part of this brave concept store.
Goooders is based on three pillars, strictly connected with each other: beautiful, meaningful and sustainable. But there is much more: all products in their catalogue are characterised by their ethical standards, varying from organic materials to recycling, support to local communities and a fair and safe commerce. This recurring mantra, aimed at creating virtuous circles and ways of creating, producing and buying that are more sustainable, is also the starting point of an incredible selection of products, characterised by an intriguing and powerful aesthetic and each of them connected to an emotional story that the founder of Goooders is always happy to tell.
Started as a pop up project into exclusive hotels, Goooders used the hiatus caused by the pandemic to strengthen their online store and migrate to Shopify, speaking to mindful and informed e-shoppers, but also promoting a simple, incredibly powerful message: “If you do goood, you look goood”.
NAMA:
Eva, you have been collecting endless successes in the fashion industry through the years: you’ve been a fashion editor for prestigious magazines like ELLE and Glamour, you are an influencer with an international audience and now also an entrepreneur. Your have been working for a more sustainable world since a long time too. When did you understand that style, fashion and beauty weren’t enough for you?
EVA:
I understood it 3-4 years ago, when I realised I had reached all my goals as a fashion editor and a creative fashion consultant. I felt I was lacking a strong mission for my life, and I had exhausted my objectives, so I asked myself: “What shall I do now?”.
I didn’t want to leave the world of fashion and beauty, but I did want to leave a mark.
Being a UN consultant I realised I could become a bridge between beauty and good. There has been a trip to Tunisia where I met some women victim of social exclusion, and they were creating jewels for a friend, and, all of a sudden, I understood that this was the future.
NAMA:
Your background is very international: you lived in New York, London, and now Milan, you speak four languages and you have met in person many of the artisans and creatives that are behind the products sold on Goooders. How did your lifestyle impact on your choice of founding Goooders? Is there a trip that inspired you in particular?
EVA:
My lifestyle has strongly impacted on Goooders concept, which is based, apart from the good and the beauty, also on the concept of travel. In fact, we speak to conscious travellers. My lifestyle has therefore given a special twist to Goooders, placing it in a quite special niche.
At the same time I strongly believe that we’re all travellers from the very moment we step outside of our houses, and going far isn’t strictly necessary to consider ourselves travellers.
A trip that inspired me is the first mission I did with the United Nations in Mali, where I travelled with a Tuareg community and we created a jewels collection, combining, one more time, meaningful stories and objects that are really refined and beautiful.
NAMA:
Goooders’ products collect thousands stories, each of them somehow revolutionary. Is there any story that is very special to you and that you would like to share with us?
EVA:
The story of the En Shalla bags, because it collects all our ethical standards into one product:
- Recycling of the bags that are traditionally used to carry food
- They’re embroidered by a community of women on the Atlas Mountains (fair trade and social sustainability)
- Part of the profits are devoted to the Food Bag Foundation that supports the education of youngsters and women in Morocco
- And, last but not least, they’re beautiful, with their marvellous drawings!
I know the owners and we are trusted partners to each other. In fact there’s many of their bags on our website, featuring a wide variety of drawings. Furthermore, they’re indestructible!
NAMA:
The pandemic has completely changed the concept of “shop”. How have these lockdown months been for Goooders? Has it been challenging recreating the atmosphere of your pop-up botiques online?
EVA:
Our business model was based on retail into hotels and we didn’t even consider selling online until 2020. But we’re deeply convinced that each crisis and challenge lead to an opportunity so we took the chance to create an e-commerce and explore new paths.
It has not been hard to recreate our mood online thanks to an extended team of collaborators, all aligned in terms of vision and mission. But it definitely has been a challenge trying to tell all the stories behind the products without being able to do that bit in person: we therefore keep working non-stop on our website, social and newsletter to share the adventures that hide behind each Goooders product!
NAMA:
Winter holidays are getting closer, and now more than ever, in such a complex moment made often of distances and isolation, presents are important not only for their value, but for their meaning as well. Each Goooders product combines high quality and meaningful and brave stories, supporting the environment and the local communities where the products are produced. Could you share with us your favorite presents for this Christmas 2020?
EVA:
At Goooders we try to do good all year round, but Christmas definitely represents a great chance to combine our shopping to some concrete support to disadvantaged situations.
With Goooders you are able to buy a beautiful product, with a positive message, but you are also gifting someone else with an opportunity of growth and liberation.
I always recommend to read the stories of our products and of the projects behind them, and getting inspired from there when choosing the right presents (for example we have projects helping kids which might be good for mums, products recycling plastic which are great if your friend is a green warrior, etc… in particular we have many many projects supporting disadvantaged women communities, and we also support local artisans and their communities).
Between my favourites for this winter there are:
- The number necklaces, made in a responsible way and with a very engaging explanation on how to pick your lucky number
- The sleeping masks by Nimboo with an aromatherapy effect that helps you sleep
- The pillows decorated with the drawings of kids from a disadvantaged neighbourhood in Milan
- The bio glitter necklaces, that help creating a Christmas mood
- The red lips mask, made by the women detained in Milan’s jail with an embroidered smile
You can visit Goooders here, and use the discount code of 20% for your presents using GOOODERSXNAMA at the checkout.
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