Clothes Doctor launches crowdfunding campaign

Clothes Doctor, the fashion start-up on a mission to help people prolong the lifespan of their clothes, has launched an equity crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube to raise 200,000 pounds.

Founded in 2017, Clothes Doctor is a mobile-based on-demand wardrobe maintenance service, offering bespoke customisations as well as simple repairs, with the aim of preventing Londonders from throwing away 11 million items of clothing away every week, according to research from charity, Traid.

The award-winning company, which offers alteration delivery services with partners including John Lewis and Karen Millen from its Cornwall workshop, is hoping to raise funds to expanding the partnerships programme to grow the company, as well as invest in technology to set up an at-home fitting platform powered by a network of approved local tailors.

Clothes Doctor founder Lulu O’Connor said in a statement: “Our aim is to change the way people feel about how long their favourite pieces can last. Saving a beloved pair of jeans or a coat by repairing or customising can gift the owner years more wear. If you can repair it, you can re-wear it.

“At Clothes Doctor, we believe that extending the lifespan of clothes is a way that we can all do a little more to help protect the environment. It’s an ethos that really resonates with today’s conscious consumer.”

The service, which promotes ‘rework, repair, rewear’, has seen its orders increase by 321 percent year-on-year in September 2018, according to its crowdfunding pitch, and since its launch in 2017 it has performed more than 2,000 repair and reworking services.

The crowdfunding campaign received more than 50 percent of its total within five hours of launching, with the largest single investment being 25,000 pounds. The Crowdcube campaign closes at the end of November.