Cucumber Clothing: How we incorporate Sustainability into our brand (and our new Loan-to-Own circularity initiative)

Cucumber Clothing has been featured in GRAZIA, ELLE, VOGUE Italia, BBC Radio, The Independent, The Telegraph and many more. We are delighted to have both co-founders as members of The Circular Society Network by The EA Project and we thank them for sharing their experience with us.

Cucumber is the brainchild of North London friends Nancy Zeffman (formerly in advertising with Saatchi & Saatchi) and Eileen Willett (ex-Nicole Farhi). They are friends who met at the school gates almost twenty years ago, and who recognised the need for a stylish, sustainable clothing and sleepwear brand that used luxurious cutting edge fabric technology for modern multi-tasking women.

Meet Nancy and Eileen at our next Circular Society Network Event on January, 27th 2022.* They will be talking about how they incorporate sustainability into their brand as well as their groundbreaking new Loan-to-Own circularity initiative allowing customers to try for up to two months before committing to buying. Any returns are sold as part of their pRELOVED discounted collection. Rentals are increasingly welcomed in the wedding/occasionwear sector and Cucumber is revolutionising the leisurewear sector by launching rentals in this heretofore unexplored area.

All of Cucumber’s pieces are made from beautifully soft, performance fabrics that are anti-crush, thermoregulating, multifunctional, easy care, and incredibly comfortable to wear. Cucumber is all about ‘making luxury comfortable’; creating  the perfect pieces for busy lives.

Sustainability and slow fashion are at the heart of what Cucumber does. Every collection is designed, sampled, manufactured, graded and warehoused all within a five mile radius in London. All of Cucumber’s fabrics last up to six times longer than cotton, meaning longer wear and less waste. Anti-crush technology means that they require little or no ironing; they are hang-dry, helping to reduce energy consumption. Cucumber’s part of the sustainable washing revolution meaning minimal washing, minimal energy consumption and water waste.

Cucumber produces small runs, with a view to limiting fabric waste and avoiding ending up with dead stock fabric. All pieces are graded, sampled and manufactured in a 5-mile radius in  London: this means low transport emissions and easy access to ensure that fair and safe factory standards are upheld. All labels and trims are sourced within the UK, which means fewer air miles and support for the local economy in creating the product. Cucumber uses compostable vegetable starch bags and recycled office waste swing tickets as well as recycled and recyclable postal sacks and recyclable packing tape when sending out its orders.

Whether you are working in the fashion industry or not, Cucumber Clothing’s approach will definitely inspire you on many aspects of your own transformation: design, retail, supply chain, materials, manufacturing and more.

Credits: Cucumber Clothing – 2021

*Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sustainability-the-circular-society-network-welcomes-2022-tickets-221578385917

The EA Project (Events for Action) produces engaging & entertaining events to break silos and enable collaborations between the main following industries: Agriculture, Transportation, Construction, Industry, supported by leaders & experts in finance/investment, education, governance/policy, energy, mobility, supply chain, retail, biodiversity, etc…

Participants and members include board members, managers, experts, founders of large groups, innovative startups, SMEs and NGOs from 6 continents.

We highlight and support sustainable / circular study cases from our Circular Society Network members (non-members are more than welcome to attend, the more diversity the better!) and we create new synergies and collaboration opportunities between attendees during our matchmaking/networking sessions to imagine new ways of working together as a Circular Society.

What’s included:

1. Discover Solutions: Discover every month, a new sustainable or circular solution pitched by one of our members (or more!). Every pitch must enable multi industries or sectors to get inspired. Diversity please!
2. Get personally Matched: Tell us your needs and expertise and you will be matched with the participants we think can bring you the most value. Discover new synergies and complementarities now!
3. Meet leaders & experts: Meet in small groups, selected profiles from all around the world, who may be working on similar or complementary projects, or may have the connections you need!
4. Access new opportunities: The more you participate, the more profiles you discover, the more connections you build and the more opportunities you will get! It’s time to accelerate our transformation!

For several months now, we are offering memberships in order to support these businesses the best we can until we are big enough to start charging new members. To support us during this transition, thank you for considering a donation to help our business in its mission to accelerate our transformation towards a more sustainable and circular economy and also so we can develop more tools and productions faster.