Sustainability sells with Lulu O'Connor aka The Clothes Doctor

The Small & Supercharged Podcast

Fast fashion is a regular feature on many a newsfeed for all the wrong reasons. These cheap and often poor quality garments aren't designed to be with their purchaser for long, and are set to be worn a few times before finding their way to landfill. But there's another way.

Enter Lulu O'Connor, founder of The Clothes Doctor. During her previous career in the City, Lulu began to notice her own buying habits. She had items she loved that she threw away because they'd lost their shape, colour or appearance, or maybe needed mending on an alteration, and resorted to those fast fashion pieces we all know so well. But it was when Lulu took a much loved coat to be mended (with little success) that the idea struck her, to turn back the clock on how we care for products that matter, and start a business that allowed people's beloved items to be altered and fixed well, to give them a much longer life.

When the pandemic struck and the successful business was unable to operate, Lulu started to develop another side of the business - products. The company had already been sending little 'thank yous' back when clothes came in for a make over, but now the focus turned to products that were sustainable, good for clothes, effective, and preserved the life of these special and often more expensive pieces.

From sticking on labels in a small office to the operation she has now, Lulu takes us through her journey from idea to reality...