The Big Interview
working with the Ministry of Craft to support on easy fixing tutorials and how to upcycle your uniform, with a brilliant How To guide on converting a school sweatshirt into a PE Bag. We were delighted to achieve the honour of The Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development in 2020 and this year I got the chance to meet Prince Charles, while COP26 was on, and talk to him about what we have achieved. He shared our views on extending the life of clothes and spoke about us returning to being a thrift nation where we make things last. The recognition of our work continued with COP26 asking us to appear in a video for their #onestepgreener campaign, to talk about how SMEs can take simple actions in their businesses to become more sustainable.
Q. What trends will drive schoolwear and childrenswear fashions and product development in 2022? Why do you think this is? A. We see that recommerce will gather pace, as children tend to grow out of their clothes before they wear them out.
Online businesses such as Depop have shown that young people are very open to this market and so it makes sense for product developments to focus on garments that can retain value for a second life, rather than just be thrown away. In uniform, we expect this to be even more marked since the publication of the Education (Cost of Uniforms) Act 2021, which states that all schools under the Department for Education, must make second-hand uniform available. This means that choosing uniform that will be durable to last that long will be important, as will school stockists being able to support schools provide this service. We will be expanding our Re:uniform initiative and developing further support for school stockists, as part of our David Luke Tender Academy, so retailers have all the
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but the industry needs to get used to new models in readiness. Technology to recycle fibre back to fibre still seems quite far away.
Recommerce and rental are growing in luxury fashion or for clothing that is worn infrequently. So solutions to improve the environmental impact of items that are worn regularly, like uniform, will need collaboration and cooperation in their development. End of life solutions would seem like a good place to start.
David Luke remains The Parently Group’s flagship brand
tools they need to compete and win school tenders, with great added value they can bring.
Q. Do you think there is more the industry could be doing to improve its sustainability credentials as a whole? A. Clothing has such a huge impact environmentally, and the fast-fashion model has driven consumption to very high levels over the past few years. There is likely to be change coming, that will take some time to transition,
Q. What does 2022 have in store for The Parently Group and sustainability? A. There are lots of packaging initiatives coming, as we get ready for the plastic packaging tax that comes in from April. We will continue to expand the Re:Uniform campaign and look forward to talking more about our brand new repair workshop that is coming soon.
And there will be more investments in our working environment, to help increase cycling and EV adoption, and create a great outdoor space to keep improving our working environment. Because creating a sustainable future needs to be about being inclusive and enjoying what we do – otherwise, what are we all doing it for?
Kathryn Shuttleworth, managing director, meets Prince Charles in November 2021
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