Clothes that ensure that tomorrow will be something better.

Something Better is in pursuit of positivity with their sustainable means of style and ethically-sourced materials.&nbsp;
Founded by three friends&mdash;Marty Buragay, German Ng, and Kyohei Numata&mdash;who launched Something Better just this year on November 4, the Manila-based lifestyle brand is centered around well-made choices that have lasting effects on not only the community, but also the environment that carries the world around us. The trio asked questions that challenged the status quo of fast fashion. &ldquo;How can we promote positivity?&rdquo; &ldquo;How can we make everyone part of our community?&rdquo; &ldquo;How can we stand up for something that&rsquo;s more than just clothing?&rdquo; Something Better answers these questions in the most unlikely of ways: through clothing their consumers with mindfulness and consciousness.&nbsp;
Something Better seeks progress, not perfection&mdash;and their goal is channeled into pieces of clothing made with low impact fibers in small batches that are also packaged in biodegradable or reusable materials. Everything is crafted ethically by home-based workers in Rizal who are paid a living wage, and who are given training in leadership and financial literacy. What seals everything together? Something Better is a member of 1% for the Planet, an organization where each business donates 1% of gross sales to environmental nonprofits.
In an industry saturated with fast fashion, Something stands out with their admirable means of working towards a sustainable future&mdash;a tomorrow where people can do something better.&nbsp;

Can you tell me about the story of how your brand came to be? What was the idea that sparked everything?&nbsp;
Marty: The idea of creating this brand started six months ago during one of the strictest lockdowns in the country. With a shared passion for fitness (two of the co-founders are fitness instructors), we&rsquo;ve always been into better, healthier choices in life. Now, complementing that with our background in marketing and e-commerce and our shared love for clothing, we asked ourselves one meaningful question: &ldquo;If we&rsquo;re going to create something, is there anything we can make better?&rdquo;&nbsp;
For us, the current state of the clothing industry has a lack of positivity, inclusivity, and purpose. And so we wanted to change the negative, exclusive, uncaring market.&nbsp;
We want to be the brand that can inspire people to pursue positivity. That amidst all the ups and downs of life, we can focus on doing good. That it won&rsquo;t always be easy and enjoyable, but we have to begin somewhere. We&rsquo;re not here for perfection. We&rsquo;re here for the small beginnings. No radical shifts, just constant, conscious choices. We believe one little thing can make a lasting impact.
Of course, we couldn&rsquo;t have done this ourselves. We&rsquo;ve partnered and collaborated with younger talents to help us craft this brand and the products. We extended our arms to happily involve everyone from different backgrounds in our decision-making processes. We built this around optimism where people can participate and do something good and purposeful #InPursuitOfPositivity.

"We&rsquo;re here for the small beginnings. No radical shifts, just constant, conscious choices. We believe one little thing can make a lasting impact."

Centered around the pursuit of positivity, can you tell me more about what it was like establishing your brand in the trying times of the pandemic?
German: It was definitely a tough time, when things were unsure and there was no end in sight. It was surely against the odds - putting up a clothing brand that is tagged as &ldquo;non-essential&rdquo;, there was an ongoing supply problem and everyone is just trying to pivot.&nbsp;
Despite everything, we just wanted to be an instrument where people can find positivity in all the chaos. Where people can truly still express themselves, share the good and be hopeful that one day life will continue to go on.&nbsp;
The pandemic has surely tested everyone&rsquo;s resiliency, coping abilities and drive. After all that is happening, we all deserve Something Better.

Most of your products are very minimal stylistically. What is your favorite piece of clothing so far that you would love to see others wear?
Kyohei: I would say most of our products, especially for what is yet to come, range from minimalist to graphic to experimental styles. Our colors for every season can be in neutrals to bold &amp; wild. We believe our product and designs welcome every single individual, not singling out anyone or group of people. We are diverse and we have something for everybody.
As a person who has a corporate job, a fitness instructor, gym-goer, and part of a start-up, a classic tee would be my favorite piece of clothing. One because of its comfort. Second because how versatile it could be. A tee can be sportswear, casual everyday wear, or semi formal under a nice blazer. At Something Better, we have products that can be their next favorite piece of clothing.

"Sustainability is a spectrum. There are so many ways to be sustainable&mdash;and that there is no right or wrong way as long as you&rsquo;re mindful of your impact."

Something Better provides people with a more eco-friendly option when it comes to fashion and lifestyle. What message would you give to people purchasing your products? What piece of encouragement would you give them with regards to doing your part for the environment?
Choosing something good for yourself and for the community shouldn&rsquo;t be an either/or.&nbsp; With &ldquo;fast fashion&rdquo; and the growing negative impact of clothing production on the people and the environment, we cannot afford business as usual. Everything is interconnected&mdash;when one fails, it has an impact on others in the entire system. We can&rsquo;t have a mindset that only thinks about profitability, but also for the environment.&nbsp;
It&rsquo;s never too late to start being more mindful, more conscious of your consumer choices. While it&rsquo;s still early stages in the Philippines, there are a few brands who are starting this approach&mdash; not just giving high-quality products, but also are more conscious, more sustainable.&nbsp; We hope we can invite everyone to join us as we take on this journey of becoming better, little by little, pursuing positivity, and doing better for our community.
What we have learned creating Something Better is that sustainability is a spectrum. There are so many ways to be sustainable&mdash;and that there is no right or wrong way as long as you&rsquo;re mindful of your impact.&nbsp;
For us, as long as we&rsquo;re all creating something that&rsquo;s being conscious of the world, not just about revenue&mdash;then it shouldn&rsquo;t be a competition about who&rsquo;s the more sustainable or ethical one&mdash;rather we should all welcome everyone in this journey of finding something better together.
The first thing that comes to mind is that it&rsquo;s always just about taking care of the planet or environment&mdash;whether that&rsquo;s through the materials or supporting certain causes. But what&rsquo;s often neglected, is taking care of the people behind the production, behind the manufacturing, behind the product.&nbsp;
Specifically, with fast fashion producing cheap, trendy, mass-produced clothes, with collections being launched every week, it also triggered/ affected factory workers.That&rsquo;s why, after reaching out to so many partners, we were lucky to find an ethical partner who honors the people behind the clothes, behind the production.

Connect with Something Better on their <a href="https://www.instagram.com/somethingbetterbrand" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/somethingbetterbrand)" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Facebook</a> and their <a href="https://somethingbetterbrand.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website.</a>

Something Better: To Live in Sustainability

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