Edinburgh ethical clothing platform on mission to slash fashion waste after bagging £1.2 million

An Edinburgh-based sustainable clothing platform has raised £1.2 million to accelerate its mission to remove waste from the fashion industry.

The investment into Unfolded has been led by Techstart Ventures with Solid Bond, FJ Labs, Sweetspot Capital and Pareto Holdings participating alongside top angel investors.

Research suggests that as much as 30 per cent of new clothing, made every year, is never sold.

Unfolded supplies clothes without this waste by designing every item in conjunction with thousands of shoppers and then only producing after orders are taken. The business has developed a factory-to-consumer supply chain working with some of the largest global logistics companies.

For the past year the firm has been running its own brand, This is Unfolded, as well as partnering with community focused creators and organisations to enable them to make their own sustainable clothing ranges.

The company has already grown to more than 10,000 customers in the UK.

Co-founder and chief executive Cally Russell, who was also the founder of personalised shopping app Mallzee, said “Fashion is one of the most wasteful industries on the planet and the second biggest polluting.

“We’ve spent years trying to work with retailers to drive change in the industry to make it less wasteful and better for the planet, sadly though many of them don’t want to change. Our experience to date showed us that to create real impact we need to take matters into our own hands and tackle the issue at source, thus Unfolded was born.

Unfolded, the sustainable and ethical clothes production platform, has raised £1.2 million to accelerate its mission to remove waste from the fashion industry and create a new sustainable way to shop for clothes. Picture: Steve Reid

“This pre-seed investment enables us to amplify our mission with the insights and expertise brought by these investors; from backing some of the worlds best known tech platforms to real retailer insights.”

Calum Forsyth, investor at Techstart Ventures, said: “We’ve been impressed by the Unfolded team’s ability to develop innovative products for the fashion industry, and we’ve seen them build truly engaged communities.”

Shaz Sulaman, founder of Solid Bond, added: “Unfolded’s strong growth proves that consumers want a better way to shop that is less wasteful, better for workers and allows the consumer to help decide what is made. We look forward to continuing to support the team as they deliver on their vision.”