Seven

I originally shared a personal version of this with my (cool) mom’s group, and realized it made sense to share here too—whether you’ve been following F&M since the beginning or only recently discovered us.

I’ve been reimagining FORK & MELON over the last year or so, and I finally feel like it reflects my vision: soap for fashion people 🖤

A little background for those who don’t know the full story: I started the brand in 2018 after being laid off from my corporate job while pregnant, and miscarrying several weeks later. I had never planned to start a business before that, but I couldn’t find a hand soap that was both clean and pretty (everything back then looked very Whole Foods-ish)—and the grief from that period, along with the shock of being discarded so abruptly by my company, eventually led me to “f* it, I’m gonna do this”.

What began as a way to create something clean and beautiful during a hard time turned into years of lessons, loss, and growth. My husband and I went through failed IVF and 6 miscarriages before having our daughter—our lucky number 7💫

After she was born, I stepped back from the business a lot to be present with her, and I wasn’t sure if I should even continue with it. For a while, F&M felt far away from me.

But slowly, the clarity came. My vision became more specific: minimal, unfussy, health-conscious, and cool. I’ve been a fashion person basically since birth—I started having strong outfit opinions at age two, went to FIT in New York, and started my career at Ferragamo on 5th Ave. My dream job was to be a buyer for Barneys (RIP). That’s always been the world I feel most connected to.

One day while pregnant, I wrote “soap as fashion” on the back of an old business card without thinking much about it. The phrase stuck. It later became the name of my personal newsletter, Soap As Fashion (now on Substack), which helped me reconnect creatively after becoming a mom.

Over the last year-plus, I’ve been rebuilding the brand from the inside out: new formulas, new bottles and updated packaging, larger refill options, and gift boxes so nice you’ll want to reuse them to store your treasures. It’s been slow and imperfect and sometimes discouraging, but also grounding in a way I didn’t expect. This version of F&M finally feels like me.

Our hero product, SOAP AF, stands for “soap as fashion.” And yes, also the other thing—a playful nod to the fact that this is soap in the mega sense: clean, ultra-multipurpose, with mega-style. It’s fragrance-free (like everything else in the line), gentle, and designed for pretty much everything: face, body, hands, and bubble bath. I lost interest in fragrance during the fertility years, and I now find “no scent” very modern—especially for something base-layer that’s used multiple times a day. It feels intentional and calm, not loud.

The bottles are either glass or larger refillable formats you can reuse (the gallon refills make it so easy). Everything is multipurpose and convenient AF, because that’s what I need in my life—I’m guessing you do too.

Even though this journey has been crazy hard and discouraging at times, I have a quiet inner knowing that FORK & MELON is on the cusp of something important. It feels fitting that this is the year the brand feels most aligned.

We officially turn 7 at the end of this month💫

To mark the anniversary, I'm offering something special: The F&M Holiday Event.

If you’ve bought from me, gifted the products, told someone about the brand, subscribed to Soap As Fashion, or quietly supported me from afar—thank you. It truly means so much.

Founder, F&M

*Pic taken at Crane Club in NYC earlier this year. I almost never take selfies, but this felt like a turning point for F&M worth documenting 🖤