"Businesses offering consumers ways to care for or lengthen the life of their clothing are booming. Drapers speaks to four growing businesses to find out about why the aftercare sector is on the up..."
"Lulu O’Connor founded Clothes Doctor in 2017 as a repairs service for workers in the City of London. She has since expanded the business to include a range of care products, and provide repairs and restorations for the burgeoning rental market...
Lulu O’Connor set up a team of seven in a workshop in Cornwall (her original home), focusing on old-fashioned repair techniques, and ensuring the team was upskilled in a variety of repair methods.
Sustainability is a core customer motivation, says Lulu O’Connor: “A huge number of people come to us for reasons of sustainability. In the first year, no one was saying that, but it has started to really get into people’s mindsets.”
Along these sustainable lines, Clothes Doctor also works with rental companies including Hurr, Onloan and By Rotation: “The rental mindset is very similar to ours. We help by providing them with repair services and products so that customers can maintain their clothing.”
Clothes Doctor launched a range of hand-wash and care products last year, explains Lulu O’Connor: “A lot of customers would get something repaired but then didn’t have much understanding of how to look after it, or of good products to look after it with. Our ethos is to help people love their clothes for longer and help them find solutions.”
