This December, for every coat sold in store, we donated a coat to the homeless and vulnerable. Thanks to our customers, we were able to donate 71 new coats this year.

Through the Wrap up London project, the coats were distributed to homeless shelters, women’s refuges, children’s centres and other UK charities helping people in crisis. Wrap Up is a project run by Rotary Clubs working in partnership with the Hands On London charity. Its sole aim is to provide coats that go directly to people across the UK, who struggle to keep warm during the winter months.

Wrap Up does not distribute the coats directly to those in need but works with charities and community organisations that provide frontline services to the homeless, the elderly, refugees, children and families living in poverty and people fleeing domestic violence. When a vulnerable person reaches out to a charity for a coat, they also discover the other resources and forms of support available to them. In this way, the charities create lasting links with those they set out to help.

It’s amazing that one coat could be the catalyst for those in need and the charities that can help them – the starting point for year-round services and support.

We want to thank our customers for making this possible and the Wrap Up team for taking care of those in need.

SHOP COATS

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!

ZJ20 - Wide-leg jeans in Stretch denim

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!

ZM32 - Striped dress

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!

ZK81 - Half-placket printed blouse

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.

ZM30 - Shopper bag

ZM29 - Shoulder bag

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.

ZN02 - Clogs

ZL28 - Clogs

For the last few seasons we have been working with a family-run Italian supplier that specialises in recycling cashmere. Founded by Eduardo Mariotti in 1990, the company’s expertise lies in processing textile raw materials in order to reduce the impact of garment production on the environment.

One of our team has been working with Eduardo at his factory in Prato for the last year, experiencing for himself the end-to end process led by the specialist in-house team.  Starting with huge bales of pre-loved pure cashmere knitwear, labels are removed from the garments which are then carefully sorted into colour groups before being shredded and broken down, taking the yarn back to its almost raw state. The recycled yarn is then blended with virgin cashmere and spun into a combined yarn, ready to be knitted into new designs – beautiful pieces with a new lease of life.

We currently receive kind donations of pre-loved Cashmere garments from our UK customers, after arranging for a secure bag and prepaid label to be sent. This service is unfortunately not available outside of the UK.

Once we receive a sufficient amount, we arrange its shipment to Italy.  Here you can see Dominika P and Dominika J checking and sorting a recent delivery before despatching it to Prato.

Cashmere is a beautiful yarn and we’re proud to be working with Eduardo and his team to reduce the waste of this wonderful natural resource.

Designed to elevate everyday dressing, Wrap London® clothes are defined by distinctive details, exquisite embroidery, unique colours and intricate stitching. We have joined HRDD Academy (powered by Fair Wear) to give greater transparency and reassurance to our customers so that we can be proud of what we do and have a positive impact on the wider community as well as the environment.

Our Founder and Creative Director, Luke Dashper, is addressing the production of our garments below:

In summary, all the knitwear, most of the wovens and about half of the jersey styles are made in China. We have always had a significant amount of production from Portugal, specifically garment-dyed linen trousers, jeans and jersey which the Portuguese are very strong at. We have been working over the last two years with one supplier in India, slowly growing our business with them focusing on clothes in cotton which is grown and spun in India. We do a small number of leather and suede styles each season which are actually made in very small quantities in a long-established workshop in East London. Recently we have started doing a small amount of outerwear from Romania.

What these various factories all have in common is that they are based in areas where there is a history and therefore the related skills and knowledge of making a certain type of clothing. Chinese knitwear, Portuguese jersey, Indian cotton, Eastern European tailoring and so on.

We have worked with all of our suppliers for many years, the majority of our clothes being made by factories we have worked with for at least ten years. I know the owners of the factories and I have visited them many times. They are all high-end factories making relatively small quantities, at a very high-quality level. As a result, their workers are highly skilled and experienced. These are not the factories making huge quantities of clothes that are sold at incredibly low prices by big high street retailers, it really is another world. There are absolutely no children involved. The factories are bright and spacious. The labour laws are strong and adhered to.

Some of our customers question the use of Chinese factories. A few things to consider in relation to China.  Over the last thirty years, China’s economy has been opened up to international trade. As a result of this trade literally hundreds of millions of people have moved out of poverty and as this has happened the wages of workers in China have risen steadily to the point where China is now considered an expensive place to have clothes made. The Chinese government has steadily increased the protection of the workers so the additional costs of employing people in China have risen progressively as well. As a result, low-cost clothes making has relocated from China to places like Cambodia, Vietnam and Bangladesh. These countries are able to make clothes much cheaper than China but the clothes are of lower quality and the workers are paid less and in many cases less well treated. Even if we were comfortable with the working practises in these other countries, which we are not, the factories there would not be interested in our low volume, high-quality orders.

Whilst China has undergone a process of economic liberation, the same cannot be said of its politics. I have concerns about some of the policies of the Chinese government. However, we don’t deal with the government, we deal directly with privately owned businesses, the owners of which I count as friends and who I believe to be decent people trying to run a business for the long term, with people working for them for many years and across generations. We carry on with our trade regardless of the politics. I think this is the right thing to do.

One thing the Chinese government has done over recent years is to increase the protection of workers and also the environment, and these new laws are enforced. This has resulted in higher pay, more holidays and less pollution. So in this respect, the Chinese government is doing some good.

When looking at where clothes are made you need also to question who has made the clothes and in what conditions. Actually, some of the worst abuses of labour in the textile trade happen much closer to home. There are sweatshops in the west where immigrants work, often in much worse conditions than in developing economies. Bangladeshi workers in factories in Leicester, Mexicans in Los Angeles factories and lots of Chinese workers in Italian factories.

So it isn’t really a question of in what country the clothes are made. What really matters is who made the clothes, in what conditions and with what pay and rights. In this respect, I am proud of the clothes that we make, confident that the workers are well treated, in the same way as the people who work directly for us are well treated.

This is not a finished job though. We operate in an ever-changing world and we will continue to evolve and adapt. From one season to the next, the vast majority of our clothes are made by long-established suppliers, but we are always looking to improve our business and trying new things with new people. You can rest assured that in everything we do we are guided by our core values and beliefs. Decency and respect for our fellow human beings, whether suppliers, customers or employees is more important to me than maximising this year’s profit. In the long term, decency and respect deliver financial security and without the support of the people we interact with there would be no business.