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brand i nsi ght Wear the Walk, masterminded by 26-year-old entrepreneur Zoe Partridge at the beginning of 2017, is a woman’s fashion subscription platform operating both offline, at their studio in Hackney, and online. This company prioritizes sustainable design and works primarily with ethically sourced brands and designers. They offer a range of monthly subscription packages to suit any lifestyle or occasion, starting from £60 - £120. Items available on subscription range from smart jackets and office wear, to special occasion dresses and handbags. So, whether it’s for a meeting on Monday morning, or happy hour on Friday evening, you can be sure that Wear the Walk have got you covered.
how does it work? Choose: Subscribers can browse and select from over 700 brands and designer pieces. They can either order via the site, or book a visit to the Wear the Walk studio. Wear: Items can be kept for up to one month, so subscribers are encouraged wear, love and enjoy! Rotate: Once subscribers are done with their items or fancy a change, they just stick on the free returns label included in their package and send them back to WTW, and their new items are sent the next working day.
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W HAT’S N E W British fashion subscription pioneers, Wear the Walk, are changing the way we consume fashion, with a business model that is set to make waves within the UK’s retail industry in the coming years.
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July 2018 will see the introduction of Wear the Walk’s newest “Express” subscription package. Specifically tailored to suit the requirements of the 2018 millennial shopper, it offers a more instant and easy-to-use service with endless choice. Subscribers will have four items on rotation, for a monthly fee of £30 price includes shipping, returns and dry cleaning. This new subscription package has environmental objectives at the heart of its ethos, and over time, will allows consumers to become more socialised into renting for the everyday, by offering them a hassle-free subscription platform and service that is affordable, instant and above all, sustainable.
The “Ethical, ultra-fast fashion campaign” An “Ethical, Ultra-Fast Fashion Campaign” will support this new, monthly subscription package. WTW will be teaming up with Graduate Fashion Week 2018, for a 3-day conference that will launch this new subscription package and year-long campaign. A panel of industry experts and notable slow fashion advocates will lead a thought-provoking live panel discussion each day, followed by an immersive fashion presentation on the final day. (See full event details within news release on page 3).
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News Release FOR IM MEDI ATE RELEASE: 23/04/18 London, Engl and.
Industry First: British Fashion Subscription Service “Wear the Walk” Launch ethical, ultra-Fast Fashion Campaign. This summer, British fashion subscription pioneers, “Wear the Walk”, will introduce an affordable, every day
subscription package that aims to satisfy our cravings for newness, and empower women to experiment with their style. The new “Express” package will target environmentally conscious, young consumers, and will be
supported by a year-long campaign that aims to slow down the rate at which we consume disposable, fast
fashion in the UK. The, “Ethical, Ultra-Fast Fashion Campaign” will launch at this year’s Graduate Fashion Week, from the 3rd - 6th June, at The Old Truman Brewery. It will be a four-day conference hosted by the founder of Wear the Walk herself, Zoe Partridge. The monthly fee of the “Express” package costs a guilt-free £30, and subscribers are given 4 items on rotation
each month - dry cleaning and delivery included - making it the most cost-effective fashion rental service of its kind in the UK. The driving force behind this subscription package is to offer consumers a simple and sustainable alternative to fast fashion outlets, to boycott the mindless purchasing of cheap, fast fashion on the
high street and online. Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of how much wastage there is within their
own wardrobes. Zoe explains that in 2018, we will begin to see a change in the purchasing habits of shoppers, “We as consumers are seeking out sustainability which is a real turning point for my company. Renting is no longer seen as cheap, but as efficient”.
Founder, Zoe Partridge, at the Wear the Walk Studio, in Hackney, London.
With the inevitable rise of ultra-fast fashion, shoppers no longer wish to change up their wardrobe every couple of months, they want to change them day-by-day. This new fashion subscription package allows customers to
enjoy a rotative wardrobe, without the dreaded buyer’s remorse. Founder, Zoe Partridge, states, ”The industry
cannot afford to continue manufacturing ‘throw-away’ clothing to be consumed at such an unethical rate”. Could this spark the beginning of a closet-light, and more sustainable future?
Wear the Walk Studio in Hackney, London.
The official press launch event will take the form of a conference during Graduate Fashion Week, 2018. A selection of influential campaign ambassadors including Kate Fletcher, who has headed sustainability projects
including ‘Fashion Ecologies’ and ‘Local Wisdom’, Professor Dilys Williams, Director of Centre for Sustainable
Fashion, a University of the Arts Research Centre which she established in 2008 supported by London College of Fashion and Tamsin Lejeune, founder and CEO of ‘Ethical Fashion Forum’ - the industry body for sustainable fashion, and a network which reaches over 150,000 people in 135 countries, will take to the stage, followed by an immersive fashion presentation courtesy of Wear the Walk, on the final day. Tickets for this event can be purchased via fixr.com/timetowearthewalk. Wear the Walk will be running an “Ethical Designer of the Year Award” competition, with the campaigns
official partner, Graduate Fashion Week 2018. Designers who wish to be entered simply sign up online via GraduateFashionWeek.com with their contact details and a short description of their collection. Entries close two weeks prior to the event. Official judging takes place over the first three days of GFW, from the 3 - 5th June. The winner of the “Ethical Designer of the Year Award” will be announced on the final day of the event.
END NOTES TO THE EDITOR Conference panellists, Kate Fletcher, Dilys Williams and Tamsin Lejeune will be available for pre-event phone interviews. For more details, please contact our event coordinator, Sarah Young at sarah@wearthewalk.co.uk
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EXECUTIVE BIO F o u n d e r & C E O, Z OE PA RTR IDG E
Zoe Partridge is a literature graduate and entrepreneur - not to mention the mastermind behind “Wear the Walk”. She coined the idea of Wear the Walk during her time working at Mulberry. Zoe was shocked at how little they acknowledged tapping in and accessing the next generation of consumers. She wanted to tackle the issue of “access” but didn’t know how to at the time. Not only does this business model do exactly that, it also solves a widespread issue that all women face; staring into their (admittedly) overflowing closets in despair and saying, “I have nothing to wear”. Zoe’s vision for the future is simple, “I envision consumers
becoming a lot more socialized into renting and subscribing for the everyday, not just for special occasions” -
Zoe Partridge
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QUOTE SHEET q u ot e s f ro m C ONFE R E NC E pa ne llis ts A selection of high-profile, industry professionals will lead a live panel discussion at the GFW 2018 Conference. Below are quotes from the panellists. Please feel free to use these quotes in any pre-event coverage.
“We as consumers are seeking out sustainability which is a real turning point for my company. Renting is no longer seen as cheap, but as efficient”.
- Z oe part rid ge , foun de r of wear the walk . “The question is not whether or not ethical clothing will ever out-compete the mainstream/ less ethical products (e.g. H&M, Topshop). The future is for such pieces not to be as
voluminous as less ethical ones - as mass consumption and production is part of the problem”.
- K at e Fle tch e r . “The great majority of us have the ability to change things, in some way, shape or form, whether as designers, makers or wearers - what we make, sell, wear endorse, buy or discard is what makes fashion important”.
- D I LYS W ILLIAM S. “The way that we consume is a result of the way the industry has provided us with product and it can be reversed”
- Ta m sin Le je un e .
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MEDIA CONTACT for querie s, please c ontact the following :
zoe@wearthewalk.co.uk
- Z o e pa rt rid ge , foun de r an d ce o. caterina@wearthewalk.co.uk
- Cat e r i n a sod i, st udio m an age r and customer rel ati ons. sarah@wearthewalk.co.uk
- SA R A H YOUN G, PR AN D E VE N T C OORDI NATOR .
Our mailing address is: Wear the Walk 3 Pope street London,
SE1 3PR
United Kingdom
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