This year we are marking International Women’s Day, by shining a spotlight on the amazing women who bring our brand to life.
Our team is predominantly women, each responsible for a different part of the process, from inspiration to design, from fabric to final garment, from photo-shoots to websites. Read on to meet some of our team. Women who, like our customers, are smart, creative and stylish and who deserve to be celebrated.
It’s also important for us to support womenled businesses. For our accessories range, we choose beautifully made products created by female artisans focused on driving positive change through fair trade and ethical practices. Read on about the ethical and fairtrade artisan accessory brand Maison Bengal and the story of the handmade clogs from female-led Rikke Falkow.
As well as celebration, International Women’s Day marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality, so throughout March we’ll be donating 5% of all sales at our new store at 184 Westbourne Grove to the Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED) a pan-African movement revolutionizing how girls‘ education is delivered, radically improving girls’ prospects of becoming independent, influential women.
Laisa
STORE MANAGER
| “I’m always surrounded by strong women, even my grandmother was always working, I have never seen her sit still, so the women in my family are what inspire me.” |
What is your role in Wrap London?
I’m the store manager for the flagship Wrap London store, so, I oversee the staff, help to train them and help them get familiar with our range and our fabrics. I love the store layout, I think it's so inviting to customers. Sometimes I think people come in just for the look of the store and to go and sit in the garden!
What’s the favourite part of your job?
I like setting up the shop floor, sometimes we have features, so it can be a different colour layout, or just beachy vibes so we set up the shop floor with the items that fit the theme. I like the creative freedom and most retail brands, especially if they are big, don’t give retail staff that freedom. That’s what I like about this company, it is such a small business and you can be creative with merchandising. I find that really therapeutic, I go into a zen mode, I like seeing all the colours together and then the end result. At that moment I might seem a bit stressed but I love it. I really like to take my time, I think because I come from a creative background, just seeing things visually I find really satisfying.
Why do you think it is important to celebrate International Women’s Day?
I think it is important because women do a lot everywhere in the world, we take on a lot of responsibility and it gets overseen quite easily. I think having at least that one day that recognises that we do work hard, just as hard as men, is important.
Do you have a female role model?
The only people I really look up to are my family, and we are quite a strong female-orientated family: my dad is the only boy, with nine sisters! And with my siblings, there are four of us, three girls and one boy. I’m always surrounded by strong women, even my grandmother was always working, I have never seen her sit still, so the women in my family are what inspire me. They don’t really give up, doesn’t matter what it is but they are always doing something and it's really inspiring.
What is your favourite Wrap garment?
The jeans I love, the boyfriend fit, which I luckily can also wear at work. I actually love all the jeans from Wrap. I really like the vibe of Wrap London and I can see myself wearing almost everything in the shop!
Chloe
TEXTILE DESIGNER
| “My parents have always been really good at encouraging me to do what I want to do and always try it, not just to do the easy option or what’s comfortable. So, I started design at university and really enjoyed it.” |
What is your role in Wrap London?
I’m a Textile Designer, but I’m also involved with the review process of the first sketches from our designers; choosing the colours for each style; designing woven stripes and checks for the season; and also planning outfits for the photoshoots. I really enjoy designing woven fabrics, actually creating the stripes and checks is very rewarding. For example, when I’m developing fabrics, I would design a check and then create it in six different colourways. Obviously, not everything goes to plan, but the majority of handlooms and fabric samples that are made from the designs turn out really exciting and beautiful.
Why did you choose to become a Textile designer?
I was actually going to do Business and Marketing at university but I deferred that and instead did an Art and Design. With the arts I was always concerned whether it was the right career path, and am I actually going to find a job and do well in it? Whereas I think it felt more secure to do business and marketing because it’s safer, and I could see an easier career path. But I was just not into it. My parents have always been really good at encouraging me to do what I want to do and always try it, not just to do the easy option or what’s comfortable. So, I started design at university and really enjoyed it.
Why do you think it is important to celebrate International Women's Day?
When I was younger, I don’t remember it being a thing, it wasn’t a date in the diary. But I think it is important for creating awareness. In general, with jobs or education, or even the equality of power, it is important that women have more of a stance in society and that they feel like they can do what they want to do, without feeling stigma. Nowadays obviously you don’t think about it as much even though it is still an issue in society.
What is your favourite Wrap garment?
My favourite might be the one that I thought wouldn’t look that great at the beginning of the design process. It’s a striped dress for which the fit process was not very smooth, it changed after the second or third fit into a whole new design, which is very late in the development process. I designed a stripe for it and in the end it came out looking so lovely. It's really satisfying to see how good it now looks after such a challenging design process!
Ellie
PRINTED TEXTILE DESIGNER
| “I always knew that I didn’t want to work for a ‘fast fashion’ brand, I don’t agree with the principle of that full stop.” |
What is your role in Wrap London?
My title is Printed Textile Designer but I would say it encompasses a lot of different things. I’m in charge of all the prints, making sure they look nice, communicating with suppliers, and finally approving them. I also sort out all the trims, things like buttons and zips and threads – the important finishing touches. And I also write all the ‘finer points’, the list you have probably seen on the website, that gives details about the garment.
Why did you choose to work for Wrap?
I always knew that I didn’t want to work for a ‘fast fashion’ brand, I don’t agree with the principle of that full stop. I did apply to a lot of jobs that I didn’t have my heart set on because of that, so when this came along I got really excited and I’m really glad it worked out. There is such a focus on sustainability and slow fashion, there is real love and care that goes into creating the garments. I hear about other brands getting things out very quickly but we actually have a process to make sure that things are going to be the best they can be, no matter how long it takes.
Why do you think it is important to celebrate International Women’s Day?
For a very long time, women have been oppressed and still are in a lot of places, and we are very lucky in the UK. Obviously, there is still some inequality, but compared to a lot of countries it is really good. It is important to celebrate how far we have come and remind us of how far there is still to go.
Do you have a female role model?
Vivienne Westwood, I think she is a good inspiration. She worked in a field that I enjoy working in. She started doing her own thing, was completely unapologetic, had her own style and didn’t really care what others thought. She was very bold.
What is your favourite Wrap garment?
It’s a silk shirt, in deep indigo blue, and it has a compositional print. It was one of the first ones that I worked on and I really loved from the first designers' pitch. It was called “the pond” print because the original artwork was a little pond with plants in it. But when you see it now it doesn’t look anything like it, it has a bit abstract leaves and flowers. I had a lot of fun with that, it was hard work, but it turned out really well in the end. I’m just really proud of that one!
Maison Bengal
ARTISAN WOVEN BAGS
Maison Bengal was set up in 2004 by Sheenagh Day, in order to help fight poverty in Bangladesh by working particularly with mothers and young women.
After a number of years spent working in the aid industry, Sheenagh was constantly impressed by the traditional artisanal skills of weaving and basket-making she came across in the poorest areas of Bangladesh. In response, she decided to create a fair trade company, thereby providing livelihoods for some of these very marginalised communities.
Maison Bengal works very closely with three fair trade organisations in the country, each one best placed to identify the most marginalised communities in their area and provide training in handicraft production. Maison Bengal products use only locally-grown natural materials such as jute and hogla (local seagrass), and work with each group separately to develop their renowned traditional skills.
Maison Bengal is a female-led business, and 95% of all their producers in Bangladesh are women. Maison Bengal now works with over five thousand women throughout Bangladesh, happily able to work in their home environment enabling them to care for as well as financially support their families.
Rikke Falkow
HANDCRAFTED CLOGS
Rikke Falkow is a Danish architect, designer and the founder of the Rikke Falkow brand. The brand is guided by the Shaker philosophy and values of purity, durability and decency, and each product is designed and developed with these ideals in mind.
The Rikke Falkow collection captures the essence of classic craftsmanship and timeless design. Her passion for designing and making clogs began in high school, where she made her own clogs because she couldn’t find the perfect clogs for sale. The intention is to create beautiful, functional, and durable products, thereby contributing to conscious consumption. She is inspired by the combination of raw and rough materials and a feminine design, giving the products a strong and pure emanation.
Rikke Falkow clogs are handmade in a traditional Swedish clog factory in the forests of Småland. The leather is vegetable tanned and does not contain synthetic coatings, making this the purest and most eco-friendly form of tanned leather. When used the leather will soften and over time it will develop a beautiful and unique patina. The natural colour will darken slightly into a warm hue.
