wear 'em out

Save the planet while celebrating your unique beauty

Lauren Derrett, CEO on reusable sanitary wear brand wear ‘em out

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 on alternatives, and start conversations on chemicals in disposables. I wanted to tackle issues of waste, which is how ‘wear ‘em out’ started.

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.

How did Bridge & Stitch help?

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, thin and very absorbent – it was quite technical. Bridge & Stitch helped with the product design, dimensions, sourcing fabrics, and finding a factory.

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 use PUL a waterproof layer to wick moisture. It’s not single use, 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. Lockdown gave people more thinking time to transition to reusables. Women could try them at home and had more disposable income. As soon as we launched, we were picked up by Next Online and 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. At launch, we sold out quick! 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 and big in eco stores and with our own customers online.

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.

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. I would describe Bridge & Stitch in 3 words as competent, understanding, listeners.