Celebrate sustainability as Leighton Buzzard's Re-Fashion sells preloved, vintage and outlet clothing
Re-Fashion (formerly The Breast Cancer Charity Shop) has opened its doors in Leighton Buzzard with a focus on planet and wallet-friendly fashion.
The Lake Street shop sells preloved, vintage and outlet stock at up to 85 per cent off the original price, with products sourced from those wanting to recycle online or via the store.
The team also receives unwanted returns - still with tags on - from a number of high street retailers.
A Re-Fashion spokesman said: "The industry needs a revolution and is under pressure to change and fast.
"Fashion is the second largest polluter after oil and gas and accounts for 10 per cent of global emissions and 20 per cent of waste water.
"For every bag donated in store, Re-Fashion plants a tree through its partnership with Tree Nation. Donation bags are available in the shop."
All profits from Re-Fashion go towards the Rieves Foundation, a charity which aims to make the nation more sustainable.
The spokesman added: "Everything that the shop does supports the charity mission and it shares Giorgio Armani’s belief that an 'Interest in preserving our planet is in itself fashionable'."
Tik-tok superstar Chloe Mitchell is supporting the new business and residents in LBO land can stay updated by following the Re-Fashion Facebook page.
The spokesman added: "We would like to thank everyone for their continued support when we were a shop that raised funds for Breast Cancer charities.
"On a personal note, we had a memory tree in our shop where you were able to leave a message for a loved one.
"We would like to let you know we have planted a tree in memory of all the loved ones on the memory tree and that all of your donations, that you kindly gave us before we closed, were given to Cancer Research in Bletchley and The Ukraine Appeal in Bedford."
Stephen Lyons, Director of Rieves Retail, said: “My business partner and I have worked with a number of charities over the last decade.
"In 2017, we helped Breast Cancer Care open three charity shops (our background is in retail and we have worked with Breast Cancer Care since 2011).
"In 2019 Breast Cancer Care merged with Breast Cancer Now to become the largest breast cancer charity in the UK. The merged entity did not see shops as a strategic focus, and so we moved the shops to the Rieves Foundation March 2020.
“The Rieves Foundation is a small grant making charity which has developed a leaning towards sustainable initiatives.
"Three of the five trustees work in the clothing industry and there are still few charities supporting this area. Our goal is to make the shops as sustainable as possible with an obvious focus on re-sale, but also on re-purposing.
"The end goal of the fashion industry is to ‘close the loop’, which means there has to be an end use for all clothes rather than landfill. It is taking the industry time to develop solutions.”
The charity has also invested in a number of initiatives including setting up a wardrobe for sectioned mental health patients at Worcester Hospital Trust, and sponsoring a competition at Nottingham Trent University for the design of a sustainable shop.
To find out more about Re-Fashion, please search for 'Refashion Leighton Buzzard' on Facebook.