Why buy from us?!

I know, I hear you - it’s so much ‘easier’ to buy online… it’s so easy to press that ‘buy now’ button from a national chain which can ensure the essential ‘next day-land-on-your-doorstep-at-6am’ promise! In a world that moves so fast it doesn’t give us time to think about where it was made (or lets face it, as humans we have the power to turn a blind eye and think ‘I’ll do it next time’) … And yes, why buy from a small business when the cost of living is so high?! Trust me, I’m not going to lecture anyone on what they should or shouldn’t do here… but maybe I can help someone (anyone!) to understand what’s really going on in the fashion industry right now, after all, it’s all about educating ourselves and goodness me, i’ve learnt A LOT in the process of opening the business!

So let me just share two facts with you to mull over :

Did you know:

  • The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions and is one of the largest polluters in the world. In the UK alone, £140m worth of clothing goes to landfill every year…and according to some more recent reports a dumper truck worth of textiles is dumped every second…

  • And alarmingly, according to The UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion the average consumer now buys 60% more clothing than they did 15 years ago… (Seriously - how many items of clothing can we wear at one time?!)

I’m no expert in this field, I think there’s numerous reasons why individuals feel the need too buy more these days: whether that be due to the amount of influencers on social media telling us what we MUST wear this ‘season’, the pressures of keeping up with societal trends, the fact there’s a lot of negativity happening in the news right now, that the term ‘retail therapy’ has never been more appropriate, but I would say the main driving factor is the price of items is so low it’s just too tempting to purchase and tell everyone you know ‘this T-Shirt only cost me £4!’

With all this in mind, I want stand up against the masses, call out green washing (I think I’ll share another blog post in the future regarding the wording some companies use). I appreciate that means some of the items have a higher price tag than high street stores, but I think thats the error of the high street chains pricing items at a ridiculously low price (to someone else’s expense!) and not indie designers pricing too high!

I want my customers to have small capsule wardrobes that they can style throughout the seasons, I want customers to know they aren’t just supporting British manufacturing industry but female founded businesses at the same time (did you know that there are fifteen designers here in Gg). I want to be transparent with my customers and be able to tell them exactly who designed their clothing, where the fabrics come from, about the recycled fibres, vegan threads and handwritten labels… I want my customers to feel joy in the clothes that they wear. I want them to always think of where they bought that item of clothing from and be proud of it…I want my customers to represent who they are and the world they want to be part of.

Fundamentally, I want my customers to know that they have the power to vote with their money, and their money is going back into a system to create a world that they want to see; A sustainable, ethical and one that has a positive impact on both creative souls & this beautiful planet we call home.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I really hope it’s been of some help.

And once again thank you for choosing to vote with your money - here’s to the power of community and ethical fashion - it’s the future...

Diolch yn fawr,

Rx