Good Girl Gang T-Shirts For All: An Interview With Nawel Hussain-Fashion and Beauty -Bloom Magazine

Creating sustainably screen-printed t-shirts, Nawel Hussain tells us why she began making clothing that brings together all women of colour.

As sustainability becomes more popular, fast fashion brands are scrambling to find ways to gain popularity again after noticing our change from high street stores to charity shops. H&M, Monki and Mango are just a few of the stores that have begun to develop conscious ranges. But the truth is, it’s very unlikely they’re doing enough for the cause. Yet, these brands still manage to have extreme popularity compared to the small, independent brands whose main intention is to provide ethically sourced goods.

Good Girl Gang is one of these incredible small businesses that dedicate their entire branding to creating clothing in a sustainable and ethical way. Started in 2017, Nawel Hussain began Good Girl Gang as a way to create t-shirts for the underrepresented. Learning to screen-print through Youtube, Nawel provides t-shirts, prints and tote bags that are made using handmade silk screens. Each design is unique and intended to carry a message to create a space of feminism, equality and a reflection of the people that make them.

“Being South Asian, I didn’t see much in the way of inclusive fashion that brought together women of all colours. I wanted to create t-shirts with a message that weren’t just pretty to look at, but held an important meaning that my customer could relate to.” With this intention, inclusivity has become a large part of her brand in ensuring she creates designs for everyone. Often in the South Asian community, women are seen as both physically and mentally disabled for fulfilling their ambitions based primarily on being a woman. After years of being told she needs to focus on being a good mother and wife rather than being independent, Nawel now uses these experiences to create clothing that inspires those struggling in similar situations. Nawel explained that she aims “to inspire the masses with fun and blunt t-shirts. I want people to wear my t-shirts and feel empowered and confident enough to stare down anyone that challenges them”

Good Girl Gang designs are printed on 100% organic Indian cotton that’s produced using wind and solar power energy. Nawel also uses 100% recyclable packaging to make it easier for her customers to reduce their waste. It was really important for Nawel to know that her customers can buy into a brand without falling into the fast fashion trap. “I always wanted to create a brand that stood true to its ethos, creating feminist themed t-shirts that were also produced with ethical practices in mind” Nawel told me. Following this, she also offers many cost effective alternatives that help reduce waste both within her business and for her customers.

She began Misprint Monday as a way to deal with the waste she was creating from making printing errors; “most t-shirts would be thrown in a box and only until it started overflowing did I realise that I needed to find a way to avoid creating as much waste.” This led to her selling all her misprints every first Monday of the month for a much cheaper price. This can include items with a small smudge or where it hasn’t fully printed. Misprint Monday became a great way for Nawel to ensure she can create as little waste as possible within her business. Running GGG has allowed her to learn how to solve problems like this alongside becoming a more thoughtful brand.

Following a customer suggestion, Nawel now offers to screen print any of her designs onto an old t-shirt you send to her. Nawel made this a permanent listing on her site to allow for a more cost-effective option for those who can’t afford to buy something brand new. This option allows her customers to be able to reuse something they’d probably just throw away; “I love the idea of turning something you wouldn’t look twice at in your wardrobe into something new and fun”. To Nawal, customers are a huge part of her brand, so it’s really important to her to consider and use their suggestions.

But, Good Girl Gang didn’t begin as a sustainable brand. It took Nawel a lot of time and learning curves to produce fully ethical products. Making GGG fully sustainable was difficult whilst still learning the basics of running a business. However, Nawel believed it wouldn’t be possible to be a fully inclusive brand that supports people globally if she wasn’t willing to become transparent and find new ways to match her brand ethos. Nawel explained that, “GGG stands out from the other big name brands that only focus on profit yet claim to be “fully transparent” with the production of their clothes.”

Although sustainability wasn’t her top priority growing up, the more independent she became, she began to notice the huge impact of carelessness in the fashion industry. Good Girl Gang was a large part of her growing awareness towards the harsh reality of fast fashion.

When Nawel first began GGG, she would thoughtlessly buy tees from wholesale sites so it wouldn’t really matter if she wasted a few during printing. Understanding the process behind fast fashion has opened her eyes to the greed of the fashion industry, “I can wholeheartedly say me starting Good Girl Gang has flipped my perspective on how I see the fashion industry now; I don’t think I’ve shopped in any high street stores in years.”

“Do you really need more?” Nawel said when asked to give advice to those trying to cut out fast fashion. Often, shopping becomes an activity to fill time when bored or to keep up with trends and this leads people to continuously buy new clothes to fit into the ‘current look of what’s hot’. Finding this incredibly frustrating, Nawel explains that we need to acknowledge that being on trend isn’t actually important. Trends are just something that big fashion companies push to feed capitalist greed. It doesn’t just destroy our bank accounts, it destroys our planet. People need to start paying attention to the cost of things and start asking themselves “why are things as cheap as they are from brands like Shein and Boohoo?”

Many small businesses are now making the switch to sustainable products and becoming more ethically conscious; with this Nawel believes that fast fashion could soon become a thing of the past. Brands like these are so important in raising awareness of the issues within the fashion industry and creating a place for people to change their actions. “It’s so wholesome having an entire community out there that’s after the destruction of fast fashion and is using their platform to show how easy it is to be rid of selfish fast fashion sites.”

Although Good Girl Gang is still a work in progress, talking to Nawel has helped me understand why it’s so important to support brands like these. Not only does it mean you’re buying ethically responsible items, but you know that there’s so much meaning and care behind what you buy unlike fast fashion brands that do it for sales. Nawel aims to continue to grow her voice alongside the company to remain relatable to her customers and to continue creating items that make a change.

Good Girl Gang T-Shirts For All: An Interview With Nawel Hussain

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