I’m nervous but excited.
Today is the global launch of a brand new product line Huelwear…clothes for the conscious
> “Sustainable style from the ground up. No seasons, no animal products. Just planet-kind clothes with minimal impact on animals and the environment.”
At first you might say WTF? But let me explain…
Since the launch of Huel over 6 years we have had a very small clothing range, tees, hoodies, etc. often Hueligans asked me to expand the range, but I resisted to focus on our core food range. But now we’re bigger, we are able to take on more audacious challenges. It’s no secret that fashion is one of the world’s most polluting industries, and has a lot of unethical practices.
- Child and slave labour
- Burning clothing - company burning excess stock
- Fast fashion has increased the number of fashion seasons from 1 to 52 per year!! - we keep buying to try and keep up with fashion, even though we have on average 5 times as many clothes as our grandparents
- 7 wears is the average before an item is tossed away. Clothing now low quality and cheap so seen as disposable
- Billions of animals suffer and die for clothing and accessories. (peta)
- Only 15% clothes are recycled or donated
- 20,000 people die of cancer and miscarriages every year due to chemicals sprayed on non-organic cotton (World Health Organisation)
- Inhuman working hour - garment workers are forced to work 14 to 16 hours 7 days a week
- Their basic wages are so low they cant refuse overtime
But it doesn’t have to be. So we’ve created 8 pillars of sustainability.
1. Timeless style, not fast fashion
2. Animal-free
3. Repair or recycle
4. Traceable, instead of a Hidden supply chain
5. Built to last, 5-year guarantee
6. Minimal impact to environment
7. Holistic approach no short cuts
8. Ethically made
This might seem like a big risk for Huel, we are entering a highly competitive space, we are a food brand with little experience of clothing, but if you’re not failing you’re not trying hard enough, and you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, Wayne Gretzky.
There is no doubt in my mind that the fashion industry needs a massive shake up and hand on heart I believe we can make a difference. Maybe I’m being naive but I see naivety as a strength. It forces us to think differently, starting with a clean sheet of paper and first principles we can change how things are done for the better.
We are going to adopt my favourite principles… 1000 true fans. Going that extra mile with the aim of creating true fans, not just customers. And build from there.
Find out more…
Huelwear homepage
Our approach to sustainability
I’d love to have the jeans, but I’m a 25" legged lady.