Ahead of The Little Loop Preloved launching in John Lewis Oxford Street on 30 July, here's all you need to know about the UK’s favourite preloved kids’ clothing destination
Since winning investment from two dragons on the BBC’s Dragon’s Den, The Little Loop has become the nations most popular second-hand kids’ clothing brand.
They're revolutionising the market by doing the hard work for time-poor parents, taking old clothes off their hands in exchange for instant credit. These clothes are then resold at affordable prices, saving other parents money and, more importantly, saving clothes which may have ended up in landfill.
Ahead of their pop-up shop at John Lewis Oxford Street, we sat down with founder Charlotte Morley to find out how she came up with the solution-driven brand – and what's next.
Were your two daughters the inspiration for The Little Loop?
“Absolutely. I’ve always been eco-minded but I had no idea how much waste kids kick out until I had my own. Initially I thought buying new things for my kids would be a real joy, but I actually found it painful because it became a constant cycle of replenishing things which hadn’t actually worn out. There was this real frustration that you’re spending money on new things and paying full price for something they barely wear – and then when does it go?
As a parent you want to buy the ethical, well-made clothing but the price points are high when you know the kids will only wear it for five minutes. The cycle forces you to buy fast fashion which is ridiculous in this day and age. So that was the idea that started The Little Loop. We wanted to incentivise people to dress their children in the best-made clothing by making it more affordable to borrow them for a shorter period of time, than to buy them. With the added benefit that they could simply return them when they were done.
We launched in 2019 and quickly became the best-known childrenswear rental business in the UK, we partnered with John Lewis which was fantastic and we won investment from the Dragons. But we quickly realised changing customer behaviour was quite a hard sell. We were forging the way but we kept hearing, ‘but I can just buy it second-hand, renting is required less and less.’ So we pivoted our business. We already had this incredible tech platform that we’d built, so we used it to create a preloved site. Now we're one of the biggest platforms in the UK, partnering with multiple brands to operate take back schemes.”
Tell us about Dragons’ Den – how much of an impact did that investment make?
“Both Steven Bartlett and Deborah Meaden invested in The Little Loop which was incredible. It’s fair to say both my dragons are very busy people but if there’s something specific you think they can help with they will happily give advice.”
How do you decide which companies to work with?
“We want people with the same morals. There are various boxes that need to be ticked, from understanding the supply chain to checking workers are fairly treated and paid. We also look at the quality of the garments which need to be desirable and long-lasting."
How does a clearout pack work?
"Anyone can come to the website and buy a clearout pack for £2, fill it with clothes and send it to us. You can put anything in there as long as it’s not stained, dirty or damaged. We sort through everything and anything we can’t sell – like brand new high street clothes – we give to a baby bank.
Each customer recieves £5 for a full bag no matter what was in it but we pay extra for things we can sell. It makes life easier for parents who don’t know what to do with their kid's clothes."
We think it’s brilliant you’ve founded such a circular business – has that been a challenge in today’s world?
"It has been hard to change the public perception and to transform people’s shopping habits. I think there’s a little bit of wilful ignorance but more often it’s a case of genuinely not knowing that all this unused clothing can end up in landfill.
So when a brand like John Lewis takes bold steps to be more sustainable and visibly so, it's such a massive help. We can’t educate consumers on our own, but when there’s circularity and lots of partners do it hand-in-hand it makes the message hit home with far more people. We’re definitely getting there and I have high hopes for the future of consumer awareness."
What’s in store for The Little Loop for the rest of the year?
"We’re hoping to roll our incredible brand take-back integration out to as many brands as possible so that we can embed circularity all the way through the children’s clothing space. That way we will have maximum environmental impact while also benefiting the very best quality ethical brands. The store in John Lewis is a huge focus for us so I’ll be working to ensure it's a great success."
