Tråd Collective is the first sustainable clothing store in Leeds city centre. The store opened its doors to customers in September 2021, offering sustainable fashion, alterations and upcycled clothing for men and women.
Founded by Jo Wanner and her partner James Fenwick, the store maintains the objective to make sustainable fashion more accessible to the people of Leeds. The concept for the store came about after making a new year’s resolution to shop only sustainably, the couple realised this was incredibly difficult.
“It was so hard to find which brands and which stores were sustainable; every time I wanted to buy a shirt or a jacket I was researching the brand for 20-30 minutes to find out if they were eco-friendly, only to find out that they weren’t.”
Founder Jo Wanner
Jo Wanner, originally from Sweden, is a graduate of Fashion Design from the Instituto Marangoni in Milan. In addition to Tråd Collective, Jo created her own brand of upcycled ready-to-wear fashion, Wanner Label, which is also stocked at Tråd Collective.
Tråd Collective focuses on sustainability through its core values of reduce, reuse, recycle. Jo and James aim to reduce the amount of clothing going to landfill by only selling high quality clothing that is made to last! They also offer a free alteration service for pre-loved clothes purchased from the store, meaning shoppers have more options in their store. Jo personally curates premium pre-loved clothing in a range of sizes, and only stocks new clothing from ethically responsible brands, such as Infinite Denim, that uses recycled materials.
Although Tråd Collective’s style is heavily influenced by Jo’s Swedish heritage, it is proud to stock a number of Yorkshire based brands. With clothing from Mutha Ship, and other lifestyle products such as prints from local artists like illustrator Claudia Rose, cruelty-free vegan nail varnish, jewellery from Olive and Hope, Saiga Fashion and Artisanat Jewellery.
Plus, some recent editions to the store – handmade shoulder and tote bags from Staary Eyes and an upcycled clothing brand Panthera Park. Jo also designs and creates accessories and face masks.
“We found that when we were shopping second hand, some stores were cramped and jumbled, we wanted to create something different, a way to shop sustainably with confidence in a professionally designed store.”
Founder James Fenwick
The store is plastic free, focusing on natural fibres. James maintains that “you’ve got to be the change that you want to see in the world, and at Tråd, we don’t want to contribute to landfill and we don’t want to add to microplastic in the ocean.”
Jo and James hope to make slow fashion more attainable for the people of Leeds and welcome all shoppers to come and visit the store. They will soon be offering Swedish filter coffee at their store in Headingley, where shoppers will be able to browse and relax with a hot drink.
Tråd Collective can be found at 80 Vicar Lane, LS1 7JH
Opening Times:
Monday – Friday 10.30am-6pm
Saturday & Sunday 11am-5pm
Follow on socials to see products and stock updates:
@tradcollectiveltd
You can browse some of the Tråd Collective products and buy online for in store collection or delivery:
www.tradcollective.com
