CBP Yoga Clothing
"Utopia is as much about time off the mat as it is on" there must be something in the water at Stowe. Stowe School, where Richard Branson spent his formative years, also produced brand creator Thomas Gartside, the founder of fitness fashion brand Carrot Banana & Peach and advertising company Bimbam. Tom, a fine artist by trade, worked for marketing and designing at Nike, before setting up his own company in 1999.
"Originally Carrot Banana & Peach wasn't essentially for yoga," he explains, watching customers whisking clothes off the racks at his booth at the recent Asia Yoga Conference in Hong Kong, Evolution. "It was for women's fitness in general. But with the yoga boom in 2001 everyone was getting into yoga so our clothing was very well received." With this in mind, soon Utopia was born - a yoga specific line in four natural colour lines reflecting the four seasons of the year - this year celebrating its fourth adaptation. The cotton and Lycra based apparel is incredibly comfortable, and comes in soft, wearable colours. "Utopia IV has some fresh new colours, new silhouettes and gets its inspiration from India," explains Tom, who has studied yoga under AG Mohan at his Singaporean base Svastha Yoga. "India is really where yoga is from and so we have brought contemporary Indian elements in, like the colours of the dyes and a graduated design effect."
Other than following the trends of the fashion industry, Tom prefers to go in his own direction when it comes to colours. "We follow where our heart and inspiration take us. Utopia IV is made up of colours like Taj Blue, Indian Red, Blossom Pink and Farhana Beige; Farhana is the colour that pulls the whole collection together." A brand builder for numerous household name companies, Tom's choice of Carrot Banana & Peach as his company name is far more than just fruity and funky. "It's organic and natural and all the elements have positive
Connotations."
energy and carrot vision in the long term.
It's a very rich brand, with a high spirit". Central to the brand's philosophy is supporting charities such as the Pistorio Foundation and bringing an environmental awareness to the products."Carrot banana&peach(
are moving to organic cotton and use only recyclable packaging and biodegradable plastics." He has been looking at bamboo, soya bean milk and kemp textiles, as
alternatives to cotton, and created a tin can as packaging, promising his customers a free t-shirt if they returned ten, in an effort to reduce packaging waste. Small companies, Carrot Banana & Peach and Bimbam's teams are also able to react to customer feedback, with Tom even making changes during the production of the line, if necessary "CBP don't run the business with profit as the first thing on our minds. We know many of our customers on a one-on-one basis and by name - we can, because we're small and we care."
For general Queries : info@carrotbananapeach.com
Order Online : orders@carrotbananapeach.com
Phone : UK : +44 1772 601 891
Asia : +852 2549 4017
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
