bailey meredith & anna fahey
Photography of Bailey (left) and Anna (right) by Lauren Bamford
Share a little about yourselves..
Anna – My husband and I currently live in Richmond, Melbourne. In a town house on a leafy street. We recently adopted a little chocolate Labrador Peggy, who has been such a welcome distraction. She is such pure energy and love, and is pretty excited to be living next to a dog park. I usually live with one foot on the ground in Melbourne and one in New Zealand, so this new travel ban has been an interesting time. I am so very envious of the kiwis living life as though Covid doesn’t exsist.
Bailey - I currently live in Titirangi, Auckland with husband, 2 cats Archie & Frankie and our latest family addition- Gruff, a wheaten terrier. We moved home to Titirangi last year after spending a few years in Melbourne and are so happy to be back in the bush, close to the rough west coast beaches of NZ.
I started Baina with Anna just over 18 months ago and also founded another business, General Sleep with my dear friend Greta van der Star.
Photography by Daniel Walker
Could you share a little about your history and how you met one another - I understand you met in school in New Zealand?
We did meet in high school, I was a boarder and Bailey was a day girl. I think being a boarder means you heavily involve yourself in your friends lives and family. I’d often be inviting myself over to Baileys for a home cooked meal. It helped that Bailey was good at impressions of my mums voice, telling tale tales to break me out of the hostel in the weekends.
What inspired the start of BAINA ? (I believe Baina is a combination of your names? and Bain for bath! so so clever!)
Nice spotting, yes when it formed on the page everything settled into place. We loved the association to bath, but it also had a refined sound and the letters formed a beautiful shape. And of course the two names together made perfect sense. The genesis of working together was formed over 10 years ago, having had many discussions over wines, we always dreamed we would work on a fashion label together. We have always shared the same vision, with every conversation we’ve ever had on a business concept or element, we’ve always felt mutually compelled to take the same steps. So BAINA the name is symbolic of this, it is us in unison.
The idea to design towels was a relatively late decision if you take the full 10 years into account. But it felt so right. While we will always have an infinity with fashion, we felt we couldn’t add anything that was necessarily required, we couldn’t see a gap that needed plugging so to speak. We knew, that what we wanted to create had to have a sense of purpose, and had a daily functionality. Organic cotton towelling was something we couldn’t find, at least not in the way we felt it could be done. We decided to create BAINA, an organic towel brand which appeals like fashion, but doesn’t place the same strain on the environment or the sales cycle. Towels are an everyday object that stay in the family, that are gifted at weddings, or at Christmas time, and should be coveted just like fashion.
Photography by Greta van der Star
BAINA's ethos is very much a 'ceremony in selfcare'. - do you have any particular rituals or practices that aid you in your every day?
Anna -In lock down you will find me in the bath. Particularly when the first wave hit, so did my anxiety. So much negative news meant my nervous system needed to take a break – regularly. For me, being so far from family and friends, taking time to run a bath, submerge and soak, has a similar effect to a warm hug. I think shutting down, meditating – whatever this looks like for you, has been business critical 2020.
Could you share a little about your journey into Womanhood, would you say there have there been any defining moments?
Bailey - I like to think I'm still on that journey. While my age may dictate I have reached womanhood, my daily experiences lead me to believe I am still on this path to understanding who I am as a woman. I think my most defining moments come from the "A-ha's" - whether present or past learning, its the moments of realisation or revelation that stand out as the most pivotal.
Anna - This is a big one. When I think of my journey, I immediately think of the strong circle of women in my life who have supported me to this point. My mum was diagnosed with early onset dementia 9 years ago at the ag of 57. This journey with her has taught me so much of how to be strong, how to care, how to be patient and it truly has surfaced some incredible women – her friends, my friends, my family. I think this experience has set me up for this new chapter of being a wife and mother.
Photography of Georgah Crane by Greta van der Star
If you had a message for your younger selves, what would it be?
Anna- Don’t sweat the plan. I know you want to know who you will be or what you will do, but things will fall into place if you always work hard and continue to seek what makes you happy.
Bailey- I think the one piece of advice I wish I had listened to (as Im sure it was given to me on many occasions) was to be kinder to myself in every sense of the word.
Connect with Bailey and Anna -
