Meet Bethany Andrews-Nichols

Bethany Andrews-Nichols, the Founder of Beenanza at the Soda Plant in Burlington VT, and Co-founder of the Vermont Womenpreneurs.

In 2019 Bethany and Tove collaborated for the STRUT fashion event held by SEABA at The Generator.

A collaborative spirit runs through most of the companies and organizations involved in the creative economy of Burlington, Vermont. The annual STRUT fashion show has made many collaborations possible and kept a huge audience spellbound for years. There was a pause during Covid and in 2023 we hope to see STRUT come back. It is a hub for creative, sustainable, responsible fashion and also a lot of innovation across more fields than fashion! Bethany brought her unique artist’s vision, and her hand made stamps, to our collaboration. She printed a small batch of unbleached maker skirts to create a playful collection just for this event.

I love finding innovative ways to interpret the use of a repeated graphic. This could become a giant block-printed mural, a hand-printed pattern on leather, fabric or paper OR hosting block-printing workshops. After graduating with my BFA in 2006 - I worked several design jobs rounding out my career as the Associate Creative Director for an in-house agency that supported several national breweries. The BEENANZA part of my story began in 2017 when I took a trip to Jaipur, India to learn more about the ancient art of block-printing. I was immediately HOOKED.

I block-print graphic patterns to embrace the uniqueness inherent in the hand-printed process. I believe the addition of a pattern adds a human element to wherever it is placed. Meaning, no solid-colored surface will stay that way for very long when I am around.

To wear Tove's gorgeous demin pieces is a treat in itself, but having the opportunity to print on several wraps skirts for Burlington's local Fashion Show "STRUT" in 2019 was a major highlight. This was the first of our collaborations - and of course I printed (and modeled) my wrap skirt with the Beenanza blocky strawberries. More recently, I snagged an apron dress that kept calling me to print on it. My printing process for one-off pieces is very mindful & I like to think that the material talks to me (in a totally not creepy way...haha). This apron dress was begging for tulips, but not in a perfect way - in natural, slightly haphazard, but organized rows - similar to field in the summertime.

Thank you for creating stylish, useful, comfortable & sustainable pieces that will be a staples in my wardrobe for years to come.

~ Bethany

Bethany & Tove are continuing to make plans for upcoming collaborations. Our slow fashion brand allows for small batch runs and cool & creative collabs.

This is the original Maker Skirt in organic cotton grey chambray over a pair of Bethany’s favorite home-printed pants. The wrap skirt is a classic that never goes out of style, and we reinvented it so it practically fits with everything you already have. And, it has the right amount of good pockets!

Bethany has held on to her strawberry print Maker Skirt from STRUT. This strawberry stamp is an iconic Beenanza design!