This April we’ve spoken to two local businesses about how they’re helping parents and carers to act more sustainably when sourcing clothes for their children. Read our interview with Sal from Oxford based Ducky Zebra and Jess from Clifton based The Carousel Club.
Firstly, Sal, tell us about yourself and your business
I’m Sal, an Oxford-based mum of two and founder of Ducky Zebra. I left my 15-year career in marketing after growing frustrated with the ‘cute, meek and pink’ or ‘adventurous, aggressive and blue’ stereotypes I couldn’t seem to escape when buying clothes for my kids. For one half of the population there’s a focus on kindness, but not confidence. While for the other half, there’s a focus on confidence but not kindness.
After doing more research, I discovered I wasn’t alone: over 80% of parents and carers I spoke to were happy to buy unisex clothing to avoid gender stereotypes. And so I launched Ducky Zebra, a sustainable childrenswear clothes brand, which is free from harmful stereotypes. Our bespoke ‘kid-approved’ designs celebrate kindness and confidence equally for all children.
Every item contains an embroidered splash ‘power button’, often tucked inside the pocket, for the child to touch and feel, which acts as a physical reminder to splash kindness and confidence even at times when it might be hard. Our mission is to create a fairer, more equal and sustainable world by challenging gender stereotypes from birth.
How do you support your customers in living greener lifestyles?
One of our core values at Ducky Zebra is slow, sustainable fashion. Our clothes are made from organic cotton by a small GOTS-certified factory in India. Organic cotton requires up to 91% less water and emits up to 46% less greenhouse gases than non-organic. Rather than adopting the latest trends or seasonal gimmicks, we create small volumes of high-quality clothes that can be reused regardless of the season or gender.
We also have a number of initiatives in place to reduce waste and extend our life-cycle, including:
Longevity: We use durable fabric, have generous sizing and include features like turn-up cuffs to increase longevity
Pre-loved: customers can return their old Ducky Zebra clothes to us. We then pass them onto the Oxford Baby Bank for re-use. In exchange, and as a thank you, we give customers 15% off their next purchase.
Rental: we’ve partnered with Borro and thelittleloop, so customers can rent their Ducky Zebra clothes, helping to extend the life-cycle, while making them more accessible to more people
Upcycling: we up-cycle old samples into gift bags
How can our members buy from you/ get involved?
To discover more, shop our clothes, and/or read our blog visit www.duckyzebra.com
You can also sign up to our newsletter for updates, helpful information and news about product launches.
Next up we spoke with Jess, from Carousel Club in Clifton!
Jess, tell us about yourself and your business
Hello, I am Jess Stanley, I work full time in Fashion Retail but have had an idea around a sustainable clothing concept for around three years, and earlier this year decided to finally take the plunge and launch The Carousel Club in the (little) spare time I have! But when you love and believe in something, it doesn’t matter the time it takes up!
The Carousel Club promotes circular fashion for children aged 0-12.
We soft launched early Feb as a resale platform of pre-loved, but not worn out, clothing. But later this year, the main business concept will launch – memberships to The Carousel Wardrobe.
Membership to The Carousel Wardrobe will modernise the traditional hand-me-down model. Members will have exclusive access to premium sustainable children’s clothing on rotation.
How do you support your customers in living greener lifestyles?
The Fashion industry is the 4th biggest industry in Europe, contributing to greenhouse gases, which is set to double by 2030 if we continue at the current rate.
We are a generation brought up on fast fashion with the likes of Zara boasting how many new collections they drop each week, to pure players like Boohoo, Shein & Primark driving down prices at the detriment to our planet.
Research from the Hot or Cool Institute last year, summarised every individual should limit themselves to buy only 5 new items of clothing a year to slow down the impact the fashion industry has on our planet & The British Fashion Council published the stat that we have enough items of clothing on our planet to dress the next 6 generations of the human race!
We MUST slow down fashion and revert our habits, especially when it comes to children.
There are 7 sizes under the age of 2 and with a rate of growth, bigger clothing is a necessity. The Carousel Club looks to help solve part of the problem:
We extend the life of children’s clothing through our customers buying a “New to them” item or the rotation of The Carousel Wardrobe; in turn slowing down the need to buy brand new clothes every time a child grows.
Our ethos is built around making the world a better place for our little ones to grow up in. It is their world after all!
How can our members buy from you/ get involved?
Follow us on Instagram @the.carouselclub , we do weekly drops of new stock that you can purchase directly from there and I offer free delivery to the local area.
I also “pop up” at local events with my infamous rail, coming soon find me at:
Milton Market @ Bruern Farm Shop – 30th April
The Barrow Coffee @ Bloxham Mill – Month of May
The Deddington Primary School Fete – 17th June
Park Fair at the Great Tew Estate – 30th June -2nd July
We also offer a consignment service, so if you have any good quality clothes that you’d like to sell (whilst making money, space and saving time!) please get in touch with me on contactcarouselclub@gmail.com
All news on the up and coming The Carousel Club Memberships will be via our Instagram page!
