Luxury, Sustainable Cashmere Brand Gains Investor Boost To Kick-start The Company.

Loop Cashmere, the direct-to-consumer luxury cashmere brand with sustainability at its core, has launched with financial backing from a UK retail expert.

The brand, which produces high-quality pieces for environmentally conscious consumers, was launched by Claire Heathcote and Richard Levin, who each bring decades of experience in the retail sector.

The company is backed by high-street expert Tracy Lewis, who has spent her extensive career in retail working with big names such as Next, Mothercare, Marks & Spencer and Fantasie & Freya Lingerie.

Entrepreneurs Claire Heathcote and Richard Levin began their careers in luxury retail, specialising in cashmere, before launching Loop, promising to become the best in its class for design, quality, sustainability, customer service, treatment of its workers, and animal welfare.

The business’ sustainability promise includes using a yarn supplier accredited by the Good Cashmere Standard, a partnership with a farm in Mongolia with strong environmental credentials to offset any carbon emissions, and a commitment to delivering 95% recyclable packaging for products. The business also works with Yorkshire-based distribution hub Enabled Works, which trains and supports disabled and disadvantaged people into employment.

Loop is also the only specialist cashmere brand on sustainable online fashion retailer Dayrize, supported by partnerships with other retailers such as including Wolf & Badger and Jules B. These partnerships are the first of many for the brand to help accelerate its route to market.

Loop Co-Founder Richard Levin said: “Having spent years in the fashion industry, I became increasingly aware of the importance of sustainability in the sector, the story behind a product and ensuring consumers always have the most sustainable choice available to them. A recent McKinsey survey shows more than half of global consumers have made significant changes to their lifestyles to lessen their environmental impact, and another 60% now go out of their way to recycle and purchase fashion products with environmentally friendly packaging[1].

“We wanted Loop to be much more than the product, we wanted it to be part of a person’s lifestyle and feed into their everyday values. That’s why we place such an emphasis on producing high-quality, investable products, and why our supply chain partners are planet-conscious too.

“We are pleased to be backed by someone with such a strong retail pedigree as Tracy, who shares our core values, and we look forward to offering conscious consumers ethically-produced cashmere.”

Tracy Lewis, Non-Executive Director at Loop Cashmere, adds: “Figures show consumers are becoming increasingly conscious about their fashion choices, and their buying power, and the Covid-19 pandemic has increased awareness of issues such as brand purpose, ethical trading and sustainability for many consumers.

“With the global ethical fashion market showing an 8.7% growth since 2015, we expect to see more consumers turn to sustainable brands they trust and make conscious decisions about their fashion choices.

“Loop Cashmere is built on industry-leading expertise and a stand-out product the customer will fall in love with over and over again – and I am really excited to be a part of it.”

Tracy received the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award for selling the Fantasie & Freya brands to Wacoal in 2012, after trebling the size of the business to £100m and extending brand reach to more than 50 countries worldwide. Lewis was also named CEO of the Year for the Midlands region, by the British Venture Capital Association in 2013. Since leaving Wacoal in 2016 Tracy has built a portfolio of Non-Executive positions and gets actively involved in investing in and mentoring entrepreneurs, with a particular focus on both impact focused and female led businesses.