Ffion McCormick-Edwards

Reclaimed product brand where I recycle wetsuits, life jackets and other water-sport materials into unique, durable and highly fashionable accessories with every accessory being handmade in South Wales.

I aim to be accountable yet affordable. I recycle wetsuits and materials into products such as bum bags, back packs, bucket hats, tote bags and a lot more.

Graduating during the height of the pandemic in 2020 and moving back home to Swansea, left me jobless and bored. I combined my hobby of watersports with my creative degree of fashion product design, and I started creating bags and posting them on social media, I gained a lot of interest and thats when my hobby turned into a business. I started Barefoot.Tech with a mission and a solution to wetsuit waste. Neoprene is non- biodegradable material and TONS of wetsuits end up at landfill annually. Having a small solution by introducing a circular-life to the end product has a positive environmental impact and the potential to have a greener future.

Working for yourself can sometimes become lonely, I would spend days upon days in my studio sewing and dealing with everything online. Even though I am part of a waterski club it’s only seasonal, I’m pretty active so I made sure I made the time and joined a local dance club, from that i made friends for life with girls who I now use as models for my products. Having a creative background, I was never taught anything about business; how to set yourself up, have a website, marketing and branding strategies ect. I spent some time learning a few of these skills but when it came to the analytical/numbers side of it I needed help. Big Ideas provided me with a business advisor who supported and advised me with anything I didn't understand or any questions I had.

The best thing is being able to do what I love every day, being able to create and sell my own designs. I turned my passion and hobby into products that people can use in everyday life and make an environmental impact in the fashion industry doing so.