Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1255943
79 T he pace is slower these days for everyone. But for Sarah Bray, not much has changed. The editor turned entrepreneur is now on island time — and bringing beautiful creations to life leisurely yet deliberately via Bermudian- inspired straw hats, caftans, and vintage treasures. From cerulean-blue seas to magnificent sunsets, inspiration is everywhere since she moved from New York (where she was an editor at Elle Decor, Veranda, House Beautiful, and Town & Country) to Bermuda last year. A Houston native and PaperCity alum, she now resides an ocean away with her Bermudian fiancé. Here, a first look at her stylish new foray, Sarah Bray Bermuda. Is Bermuda long-term or a quick sojourn? I fell in love with a Bermudian! It's a crazy story, but I met my fiancé on Bumble. He was getting his Ph.D. at Columbia University in New York City. While we had a wonderful life and loved our tiny West Village apartment, he really wanted to escape the hustle and settle in Bermuda. Your new business venture. I'm opening a small shop in Bermuda later this summer. But in the meantime, I've soft-launched a few of my pieces on sarahbraybermuda.com. The sun hats woven with biodegradable palm leaves and interchangeable antique ribbons have been a surprise hit. I love classic straw sun hats and wear them nearly daily in Bermuda, but I really wanted sun h a t s t h a t allowed me t o c h a n g e the ribbons to match my outfit. And it's really windy in Bermuda, so you need a ribbon to keep your hat from blowing off. I developed a sample and posted it to Instagram, and it turns out lots of people were looking for the same thing! I'm also launching Bermuda coin jewelry, caftans (made with vintage upholstery fabric), and more antique tabletop finds. Inspiration and tiny footprints. I was going to debut the sun hats on my gorgeous bridesmaids at our early summer wedding, but all gatherings are postponed, including our wedding. While it's not exactly the best time to be launching a nonessential brand, I think now, more than ever, we're becoming conscious of how we each can make small changes that have a global impact. As a journalist covering fashion and decorating for the past decade, I've had the privilege to meet and interview so many inspiring entrepreneurs who each had his or her own interesting stories. But as I pursued various business ideas of my own over the last few years, I continued to find myself extremely ethically conflicted. I didn't want to put my name on something that hurt our planet that is already suffering so much from our over-consumption. I didn't want to bring more meaningless waste into our beautiful world. While I think it's impossible for any fashion or decorating business to say they are completely sustainable (even if your product is eco-friendly and you are using SARAH BRAY'S NEW BERMUDA LIFESTYLE EASY BREEZY DOES IT: BY FRANCINE BALLARD Straw hat with antique ribbon Sarah Bray at her home in Bermuda