The Art of Bathing
We sat down with Bailey Meredith and Anna Fahey, the women behind the most beautiful Organic-Cotton Towels brand, Baina, to talk about their collaboration with the Korean bathhouse-inspired soap maker Binu Binu. Together they created the ultimate bathing experience, a dream for your everyday rituals with exquisite and minimalistic home products. Discover through this collaboration a textural, sculptural aesthetic with which to upend the neutrality of one’s bathing space and create the deepest meditative wellness routine.
Right: SHOP Johanna Bath Sheet
Tell us a bit about the story behind Baina?
After a career in fashion, we both found ourselves working in the furniture and interior design industry in Melbourne where we quickly became enamoured with the principles of working with products that are inclusive and functional. We were fortunate to be a part of a brand that considered sustainability and environmental responsibility at the forefront of their business, sparking the movement toward what would ultimately become BAINA.
What is your brand ethos?
To magnify the personal bathing experience, through the act of slowing ones daily routine and being present.
Right: SHOP Roman Organic Cotton Pool & Bath towel
This is a match made in heaven. Tell us about this collaboration.
There is a deep synergy between BAINA and Binu Binu, both brands are built upon a direct response to the act of bathing. Binu Binu from the heritage of Korean bath houses, and BAINA from the internal and personal experience that modern bathing promotes.
We connected with Karen of Binu Binu back in early 2020, and we were both mutually very excited to bring the brands together. It was a very slow and mindful process, as we all know a lot happened in 2020. We were reverent to both brands needs and requirements, ensuring we both felt secure in our primary businesses before we pushed ahead. This resulted in an extremely thoughtful well-rounded end product.
What is about bathing that seduced you?
We’ve both been under bathings’ spell for a very long time. It is certainly something we feel passionate about, we both use bathing as a crutch in times of heartache or uncertainty, or simply as a way to unwind and have some time alone – free from screens and other distractions.
Where do you find inspiration from? Any rituals for creativity?
Travel and wine. We love spending time together outside of the office, and often, when these moments, our best work flows. We had a couple of trips early 2020 before travel restrictions began: Paris, Portugal and Sydney, and came back home with a lot of ideas, full of energy. I think when your mind is away from emails and day to day confinements, inspiration flows.
What does a usual day look like for you? Do you follow any routines?
Currently we are in a strict lockdown, so routines are one of the only ways to keep you away from going a little mad. We both have dogs, so our breaks and time away from the house include long walks and drinking a good takeaway coffee.
We both bath in the evening. I have a little one, so I really enjoy my late bath, it is a time just to myself, and sets me in a good head space before bed. Also New Zealand is coming out of a cold winter, so bathing is a way to be warmed up before bed.
What’s your secret for wellbeing and good living?
Balance, which can be easier said than done. Find what is it that makes you feel good and make it a priority. When running a business, it really does become a form of escapism. I love to get away on the weekends, I need wide open spaces and a fresh landscape to rewind and reset.
What are your tips for a sustainable beauty routine?
Less is more. It is easy to be sucked into beautiful products that promise the world. We end up having cabinets full to the brim. I actually enjoy pulling back from all the steps we are supposed to take, and give my skin a break. Natural oil cleansers, a good moisturiser – and LED light treatments for skin repair.
What are your tools for when things feel out of balance?
I’ve learned that I need open spaces, nature and the ocean. I lived in an apartment in Melbourne throughout a 100-day intense lockdown and the feeling was suffocating, my body felt like it was craving space and fresh air. If physically changing locations wasn’t an option, my go to is always a tranquil yoga class – with no distractions.
You have a day off, what are you doing? Where can we find you?
After this lockdown we can’t wait to visit family, and go out for meals with friends. When living away for so long, the novelty of being close to the people we care about hasn’t and won’t wear off.
New Zealand has such incredible beaches and lakes, so usually weekends consist of getting out of the city and exploring the coastlines.
A song, playlist or album to play during a bath after a long day?
‘Take your Time’ A playlist on Spotify by Fathior.
Describe the perfect Baina x Binu Binu bath in 5 senses? What does it smell like? Look like? Feel like? Taste like? Sound like?
The experience is serene. The air smells of shea butter and rice milk from the AE GI SUPER MILD Soap bar you lather in your palms. The water has turned into milky white. The temperature is lukewarm, as you’ve soaked for over 30 minutes, and sounds like the album ‘Collected Pieces’ by Mary Lattimore, coming through your phone – dripping sounds as droplets leave the cold faucet. A warm BAINA towel awaits you on the heated towel wrack.
Can you share your top 5 bathrooms that inspire you?
~Sunken bath of Villa/Gallery Makoto Yamaguchi
~Installation of his reimagined NYC apartment by Do Ho Suh
~All resin bathroom designed by Studio Sabine Marcelis
~Bathroom in Alastair Hendy’s restored Shoreditch loft, London
~Bathroom designed by French architect Joseph Dirand
Shop the Selection
