Island Feather has just celebrated its second birthday so we thought we would catch up with company founder & director Claudia Albrecht to share how Island Feather has developed since we had the pleasure to host the launch party at Strong Island HQ back in April 2017.

Claudia – Can you remind us how you started Island Feather and tell us a little more about your company?
Island Feather was initially a hobby, but after developing and selling products such as hair feathers, jewellery & accessories at local markets in and around Southsea I realised, as a company, Island Feather would be a platform to give me total freedom and have everything that I loved in one place. I love the outdoors and sports such as Surfing, Wakeboarding and Stand Up Paddleboarding so as my business knowledge and aspirations grew I worked alongside customers and stakeholders to evolve Island Feather into an established Limited Company selling sports clothing & products to support the lifestyle of Island Feather customers.

What have the past two years been for you at Island Feather and can you share some of your high lights and what you have learnt?
The last two years have been a rollercoaster of emotions & amazing experiences. The initial set up of Island Feather was challenging as I had to put into place all elements of a business and ensure that the infrastructure was fit for purpose but was also robust that enabled growth for a sustainable and safe future.

Since our launch, we have added new items to our sportswear collection, developed our own paddle board and even have a Roof Tent to support your adventures and life on the road. Our customers also told us that they wanted more opportunities to try and experience sports and wellbeing activities so we introduced Island Feather events in 2018 to support our customers interests.

My highlight of all Island Feather experiences was working as a team to deliver paddle boarding to over 180 people at Love Fit and Wilderness festival in summer 2018. This was a really intense couple of weekends, but we had amazing support from these two events and with a strong team and such positivity the weekends were such a huge success. We have been invited back to both these festivals this year and are excited to continue to offer such amazing experience to individuals out on the water.

I have learnt so much over these past two years and will continue to learn every day. I have learnt that Island Feather is never a finished canvas and both the business and I will continue to evolve and grow. The advice that I would give to anyone wanting to take the leap to launch their own business is that you will make mistakes, however you will learn from them, so just keep moving forward. Being a business owner comes with a strong sense of self and you need to be able to trust your judgement. Not everyone will understand what you have set out to do but there will be people who do and will be the individuals you can learn from and will be by your side throughout your journey.

So what is 2019 going to be looking like for Island Feather?
2019 has been amazing already and it is only April. Last year our customers told us that they wanted additional products to support their sports, more health, wellbeing & sports events and also to understand more about the mission behind the company.

🌊 New Products – We are working hard to bring new products to market for the next year.  To support our customers lifestyle, we will continue to design products with both sustainability & style, whilst using fabric technologies to ensure our customers feel comfortable and have no barriers from performing in their sports. As an evolving brand, in a business of producing products, we ensure that our decisions are consciously having a positive impact on the environment. At Island Feather, we believe that through creating durable and hybrid products reduces the need for more. You won’t see multiple collections from Island Feather, but instead, individual items carefully designed for multiple purposes.

🌊 Events – To continue to support our customers we have launched the “Find your Freedom” tour, which will consist of daily events in different locations (including Portsmouth) to offer different sport, health and wellbeing activities. Click here for our events calendar and how to book.

🌊 Film – We are working in partnership with A Grey Palm Productions and will be launching the “find your freedom” film in September 2019 with screenings in key cities. The film aims to share more about the journey of Island Feather, the mission, and showcasing others finding their freedom too. Watch this space, more information coming soon.

Website: islandfeather.com
Facebook: facebook.com/Islandfeather
Twitter: twitter.com/IslandFeatherUK
Instagram: instagram.com/islandfeather
Pinterest: uk.pinterest.com/Islandfeatheruk

Photos by Megan Hemsworth, Sammy Seeley and Ollie Denny