Its eco-friendly fabrics, cool clothes and cult following have made the brand the one to watch – and with more than a quarter of a million followers across their social media – people definitely are.
As well as its unique clothes and designs, Lucy & Yak has been successful due to their mission to create a world-nurturing organisation that gives back more than they take out. They are a people-first, ethically minded and sustainably focussed Fashion business, which has grown from zero to 60+ staff on an exciting 3-year journey so far.
They want to help create a system that works for everyone, which means quality durable clothing that lasts customers a long time. To add to this mission, their factory in India and warehouse in Yorkshire are run 100% on renewable energies, they have a large organic cotton range, and all items are sent out in biodegradable mailing bags, and beautiful recycled Sari dust bags.
Everything they do, and everything they create has sustainability at its core.
Founders Lucy and Chris will be joining us at this year’s Ideas Fest in August, where they will be joining a live talk, providing their story, advice, and invaluable insights to help you on your journey.
Our founder Francesca James, caught up with Lucy and Chris to discuss what responsible business means to them, their festival essentials, who they’re most looking forward to seeing at Ideas Fest, and much more.
“When we started out the priority for us was our workers,” said Chris.
Discussing the importance of the manufacturers they worked with when they started out in India, Chris said, “You hear horrors stories of the Rana Plaza factory and other disasters, and we wanted to make sure we worked with someone who really cared about their workers, and that workers were getting paid fairly, and that conditions were right – that was our number one priority from day one.”
“When we started out we were using deadstock materials, so it was already inherently sustainable, and then as we began creating our own fabric, we quickly opted for organic options. We now also use a lot of recycled materials – trying to reduce our impact, from an environmental perspective.”
Watch the full video here to find out more. Interested in hearing more about Lucy & Yak and how to build a sustainable business? To hear their talk, amongst other inspiring change-makers, buy your tickets for Ideas Fest here. See who else is joining us and what more we have to offer here.
