Only three years ago, speculators were claiming to James Fenwick, Co-Owner of the store, Tråd Collective, that they ‘would never buy second-hand’. One relaunch and one in-house studio later, James and Josefin’s Leeds-based business is thriving, and they’re taking their community with them.
The pastel tones of the Tråd Collective store appeal like a ray of light onto the once industrial streets of central Leeds. Touching on the trade heritage of the city, James led “Something we’re trying to push at the moment is the Vintage Trail”. A collection of 10 sustainably-ran shops now line Vicar Lane, dare I say leaving Tråd Collective, best ’til last.
“A good day out” we agreed.
Giving customers the freedom of choice within the second-hand market is something that this business has prioritised archly. “This is something we’ve thought a lot about. We have our own in-store studio, which gives our customers a lot more choice… if they have a pair of pants that are too big for them, we can alter them, hem them - it gives our customers more options.”
In an attempt to transform the pro's of fast-fashion and apply them to sustainable models, a valuable opportunity of variation is provided by this community of businesses. For those wanting to learn for themselves, Tråd Collective offers a range of sewing workshops. I’m particularly envious of not thinking of the phrase Stitch & B*itch first.
Along side these planet-friendly practices, James, Josefin and the team can be found in the aftermath of the festival camping fields at Bramham Park, the home of Leeds Festival, collecting materials to be repurposed.
“We went to Leeds Fest again this year to do some salvaging, which I’m really happy about. Not only because we got to salvage 10 more tents and 10 more sleeping bags, which is about all we have the capacity to process, but also because of the amount of people we got to reach through telling that story.”
With the exposure giving James Fenwick the opportunity to talk to something and earning him a spot on ITV News. Continuing the fight, James will be joining ‘a fellow salvager’ to discuss the issue with Leeds City Council, “ask[ing] them to put more pressure onto Festival Republic, by altering their license conditions to encourage more recycling”. Not only to discourage to waste from being forgotten to landfill, but also to motivate business like their own to adopt these methods of repurposing.
Seeing a jump from 2000 followers on their Instagram (@tradcollectiveltd) to 7000 during the last year, has encouraged the brand’s vocal view point on sustainable practices. Keen to enhance the narrative of awareness in the fashion landscape, James stated
“We set up Tråd (me and Jo - she’s the boss) to stop fast fashion. We wanted to show a new way of consuming fashion, [which] didn’t involve harming the planet, or harming people.”
I validate his sigh with a nod, as James explains “There’s a lot of education to be done about the state of fast fashion at the moment… and we’re trying to change that.”