How did your brand come about?
I was a blogger, writer, and speaker on female empowerment and had been wearing reusables for 5 years. I saw a gap in the market for a mainstream product. Most people are unaware of reusable sanitary products as a viable option, but now people are being reached. My main motivation for starting the brand was to reduce waste, educate people on alternatives, and start conversations on chemicals in disposables. Primarily I wanted to tackle issues of waste, which is how ‘wear ‘em out’ started.
How did Bridge & Stitch help you?
I first spoke with Bridge & Stitch in 2019. I needed an expert in UK manufacturing, and my first port of call was founder Rachael Hobbs. At the time I was just starting out and I thought I could make the product myself. I soon realised that to create a premium product there was complexity in bringing it to market and making it viable for modern life. I needed Rachael’s expertise.
I talked through what I wanted from the product. Rachael helped design with the right materials for hygiene, I wanted something you can hand wash, rinse in water, machine wash at 40 degrees without a softener and something thin and very absorbent – it was quite technical. Bridge & Stitch helped with the product design and dimensions, sourcing fabrics, and finding a factory for manufacturing.
I started with microfibres, for absorbency and thinness. I then moved to bamboo as a more sustainable fabric, making the switch to 90% organic bamboo, 10% organic cotton. We also use PUL a waterproof layer to wick moisture. It’s not single use, so as eco as possible. The bamboo is from Europe as my UK suppliers couldn’t keep up with the large order volumes. The rest of my materials are sourced from the UK.
We launched in early 2020. It was the best time really. Lockdown gave people more thinking time to transition to reusables. Women were not leaving home as much, could try them at home and had more disposable income. As soon as we launched, we were picked up by Next Online and then 50 stockists. We sold out on our first production run.
We’ve grown global and are ticking along nicely. It’s a serious affair rather than a lifestyle business. It helped that I was a blogger before this with an audience on social ready to monetise. It was important to me to bring a product to my growing audience. At launch, we sold out very quickly! It was a case of ‘right time, right place’. I’ve never been corporate or worked in that world. I was 46 when we launched with 4 kids. Now, we’re global – big in eco stores and with our own customers online.
The great thing about the product is you can wear them part-time if you want. You can either hand wash or machine wash or take them in the shower with you to wash, making it easy. If you save up and wash a bundle together then yes, you need more, around 12 pads which you can pick and mix. In terms of age, 25-45s wear them and not just for their periods. For staying fresh as a panty liner, bladder weakness, or for extra confidence. The fabric is like an underwear gusset, made from breathable natural fabrics. The pads draw moisture in and don’t get smelly, chemicals aren’t needed.
What stood out with Bridge & Stitch?
I had no idea when it came to making products until I met with Bridge & Stitch. Rachael listened, was curious about the product, and asked the right questions. When she put it all together, she gave me exactly what I asked for and was easy to work with. I live in Essex, yet we did it all online and over the phone.
Now I am focusing on the brand but have ideas for products and will continue to use Bridge & Stitch – to change it up and work with us on the current line to make it cheaper for the consumer. It’s expensive to bring a product to market, but if you get it right it will pay you in dividends.
How would you sum Bridge & Stitch up in 3 words?
Competent, understanding, listeners.
Let’s Talk
If this story inspires you and you are trying to launch a collection, get in touch with Bridge & Stitch for a discovery meeting.
‘Just like the flowers on this design, we all bloom in our own gloriously different ways, and just like we celebrate the beauty in flowers, we should celebrate the beauty in us because we ALL bloom. Save the planet while celebrating your unique beauty. Made in the UK, shipped Worldwide.’
