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Aiming to revolutionize the fashion industry, one brand is committed to promoting living wages, sustainable materials, and higher quality fabrics. This mission has recently gained momentum thanks to a £20,000 investment from Dragons’ Den investor Deborah Meaden.
Yes Friends, a clothing company based in Bristol, challenges the traditional fast fashion model that often relies on cheaply made garments, low wages, and disposable consumption. Founded in 2021, the brand debuted with a sustainable and ethically produced T-shirt priced at just £7.99. Since then, it has broadened its collection to include items such as underwear and corduroy jackets, all while emphasizing fair working conditions and environmentally responsible production methods.
Founder Sam Mabley highlights a pervasive misconception in the industry, stating, “There’s a big myth going around the fashion industry that it’s expensive to make ethical clothing. We’re running a profitable business selling ethical clothing at affordable prices so I think we’ve proved that it doesn’t need to be expensive.” He further points out that paying living wages is not a groundbreaking idea but something every brand should adopt regardless of their pricing strategy.
To directly support garment workers, Yes Friends has introduced a tipping option at checkout, allowing customers to contribute extra funds. This initiative, combined with premiums for living wages, has already raised over £56,000 to benefit workers. The brand’s innovative approach caught the eye of Deborah Meaden on BBC’s Dragons’ Den, where she invested £20,000 for a 2% stake—double the amount originally requested by Mabley. Meaden expressed enthusiasm for the brand’s impact, saying, “I was quickly impressed by both the high quality of the clothing and the impact that Yes Friends has already had, and knew this was a business I wanted to be a part of. I’m excited to see the brand continue to transform the fashion industry.”
This investment arrives amid growing global scrutiny of the ecological and social consequences of fast fashion. For example, France has imposed restrictions on fast fashion advertising, and Bristol City Council recently announced plans to limit advertising of fast fashion along with other environmentally harmful products on council-owned platforms. Mabley stresses the need for the industry to adopt better fabrics and move towards a circular fashion economy. Yes Friends employs Fair Trade and organic cotton certified by the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), but he believes the broader fashion ecosystem must evolve. Ultimately, the company aims not only to influence consumers to make more ethical choices but also to collaborate with other brands and lead collective change. Mabley emphasizes, “We want to be the brand at the forefront of championing change across the industry and working with other brands to do that as well, because we’re very aware that one brand is not going to do it on their own, it’s going to be brands together.”
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