Avail, your new go-to shopping destination for independent brands
A space for purchasing from independent fashion brands, the social shopping app Avail, was founded in Belgium by CEO Noëmie Haverhals. Avail showcases the best independent and upcoming brands that need to be on your radar. Since the app’s launch in June 2020, it has seen 16K+ downloads and prides itself on being a platform that provides customers with a fashion community. Introducing its users to over 150 local, independent fashion brands it is a shopping destination that suitably fits our time and is helping lead the way for the future of consumerism. Avail provides a combination of independent brands, curators and shoppers. It is a destination for shopping and inspiration; consumers can follow curators, people who are known and appreciated for their personal sense of style, and take their ideas as inspiration for what to purchase next. The curators of Avail include Monikh Dale, Lucy Alston, Anna Wink, Nicole Huisman, Milla Loud. What’s more, each customer has the opportunity to become an Avail curator, having the ability to create their own profile, allowing them to discover their favourite items.
After buying an ‘overseas’ prom dress from an e-commerce platform 12 years ago, Noëmie Haverhals was introduced to the “excitement of discovering the undiscovered,” as she describes it. This, and the want to help independent brands reach an international audience, and audiences to discover new brands alike, are what drove her to start Avail. When discussing the inspiration behind starting an app like Avail, Noëmie comments that being a Millennial, she didn’t “just witness a major shift from offline to online, but also companies feeling threatened by it whereas for me it opened doors.” The ability to shop online, and through apps along with the force that is social media, helps pave a path for smaller, independent brands to reach international customers. Noëmie believes audiences are looking for “added value in the brands they purchase.” The amount of customers looking for seasonless, sustainable or inclusive brands is growing but they need somewhere accessible to find what they want. This is what Avail makes happen. “Becoming part of the Avail community through the app will give you unlimited access to a brand universe you wouldn’t be able to discover somewhere else,” explains Noëmie.
This season, Avail are giving users a new and fresh mix of sustainable, seasonless and made to order pieces from the most sought after, or soon to be sought after brands.
A few of the brands gracing the platform this autumn are Valentine Witmeur Lab; a designer that is steadily on the rise in Belgium with her quality knitwear. Producing each design in reasonable quantities as to avoid over consumption or waste and also maintaining the exclusivity that her customers love.
Masha with Maria. An Amsterdam based brand best known for their colourful coats and the ethos of power in individuality. All the items from Masha with Maria are handmade and one of a kind.
Miista is a London based brand founded in 2010 by Laura Villasenin. Known to be a fashion forward footwear brand, Miista was launched with the intention to play with silhouette and materials without sacrificing quality or altering the price and wearability of the product.
