Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us! What inspired your business, Cadaence?
Thank you for allowing me to tell our story here!
For me, Motherhood was the starting point of the Cadaence adventure. I became pregnant with my first daughter in 2018, and at that time, my husband and I were already looking for ways to reduce our waste in our day-to-day life, at home, at work, while traveling… When we figured that we would need to buy thousands of diapers and wipes to keep our baby clean, we started looking for eco-friendly alternatives to baby disposables.
Can you tell us what sustainable materials are used in your swim diapers?
Absolutely. At Cadaence, we create products with either organic or recycled materials that are sustainable and that last over time.
For instance, our swim diapers are made of recycled nylon Econyl®. We love this fabric. After all, it’s both soft and comfortable for babies and super sustainable because it is made with nylon waste collected from our oceans. It allows us to create fashionable items without having to use new resources. Regarding our absorbent pads, reusables wipes or tank tops, we use exclusively organic fabrics to create ingenious blends with Tencel, organic cotton, bamboo, and hemp.
What sets Cadaence apart from other organic, sustainable brands?
Firstly, I would say Style & Design. When my husband and I were looking for cute cloth diapers and swim diapers for our daughter back in the day, we couldn’t find anything that we liked in terms of cut, colors, and patterns. At Cadaence, we are committed to a good slow fashion with a touch of bohemian chic vibes. Our style is both minimalist and wild. We love combining soft and earthy tones with timeless and unisex patterns.
Also, our products are inclusive and versatile. Every product in the shop is multi-purpose and gender-free, so the parents can consume less and save money and resources. For instance, swim diapers can be used as regular cloth diapers. They must add a pad inside them. Same for the reusable wipes, they can be used to change babies, clean dirty mouths, little hands, and runny noses, and they can even be used for makeup removal.
At Cadaence, we are committed to an ethical and conscious lifestyle by sharing with our community the craze for sustainability, long-lasting products, those that last over time. We want to bring awareness to current consumption patterns and extricate ourselves from the wasteful madness.
Do you have any upcoming new launches you are working on this year?
This year, we are exclusively focusing on the swimwear collection and accessories. It’s a big launch for us, so I don’t think we would add any new items to the shop before 2023.
Let’s talk about motherhood and the environment. Is motherhood an eco-opportunity?
It definitely is. Motherhood brings the desire to do well do better for ourselves and the next generations. Becoming a parent is also a great opportunity to rethink your overall way of consuming; the perfect time to take a [freeze frame] break and reconsider the real priorities: what is needed on one side and the other, which is not necessary. The material bought, accumulated, and thrown away doesn’t really matter that much anymore. Conversely, what we give birth to, what we see grow, what we keep preciously, and which reminds us of beautiful moments are things that really fill our lives.
What other ways have you and your family contributed to being greener?
We are trying to go greener every day, but we still have miles to go. We completely stopped buying items from the fast fashion industry. We also try to reduce waste daily. We always favor bulk shops for groceries and the local farmer’s market, which is easy to find where we have settled in the south of France. Also, we are vintage lovers, so it’s easy for us to buy only second-hand for our furniture and decoration. And then, when it comes to items for our children, we always adopt a minimalist approach. So, instead of buying, we prefer to rent books and trade toys.
I love that Cadaence is family-run. Can you walk us through a typical day for you and your partner?
A day in our life right now is quite hectic. We just welcomed our second child, who is only three weeks old, and he is three years apart from his big sister. The days are long and busy, and the nights are short. A regular day in our life starts with a nice family breakfast around 7 am, then it’s time to get our daughter ready for school and rush out. My husband works from home most of the time, but he often goes on business trips to Portugal to meet with our manufacturer, where he takes care of the product design and quality checks… For my part, I divide my time between breastfeeding/changing our baby (which is very time-consuming. Let’s be clear, it’s happening every two hours at the moment!) and running the business. In my case, working from home is truly a blessing!
My husband and I always try to keep at least 30 minutes to grab lunch at home or the vegan cafe a few blocks away from our place. Then, we work until 5 pm when the time comes to pick up our daughter at school. After that, we go to the playground or the park around the corner to spend some quality time outdoors and meet up with our friends and the local parent community. Back home, we always cook and have a cozy dinner together. (Meals are sacred for French people, as you must know, we always take time to sit down at a table). Then comes the casual bed routine for our three-year-old. And depending on the mood of our newborn, my husband and I listen to an inspiring podcast, or we debrief our day before going to bed. We face challenging days, but we quickly learned how to be very productive. We are also very grateful that we can work from home and not waste our precious time commuting.
What inspires the design for Cadaence?
I draw my inspiration from everywhere, mostly from vintage thrift shops, 70’s vinyl, and old school magazines, but I also get very inspired by people walking down the streets in the surf towns of the French Atlantic coast where we settle down.
Lastly, who is your Mother Muse?
At the moment, my mother’s muse is Jinti Fell. She is an Australian mum raising her three kids in nature. She lived on a bus and documented it. I felt very inspired by her natural births, healthy lifestyle, and wild family trips worldwide.
MOTHER MUSE 