John Lewis has partnered with leading childrenswear rental brand, thelittleloop for our exclusive first foray into clothing rental.
An estimated 183m outgrown baby clothes are sitting in the back of UK wardrobes, (according to environmental charity Hubbub), and with the UK reportedly the biggest consumer of new clothing in Europe*, something has to be done. This is where a ‘little loop’ can make a big impact.
We’re launching a trial with thelittleloop to give parents the choice to rent their children’s clothing, limiting waste, creating a circular solution and optimising the environmental impact of fashion by keeping it in circulation and increasing the number of wears of each garment.
Launched on 26th May with an initial 51 products of beautiful, staple items of clothing for children and babies up to age 12. The collection has been carefully curated to include wardrobe staples made from more sustainable raw materials such as recycled polyester.. The products will be available to rent on www.thelittleloop.com, where customers will be able to choose John Lewis items to add to their subscription ‘plan’. The monthly plan starts from £18 which allows a customer to rent roughly 6-7 products at a time, with unlimited swaps. thelittleloop estimates that over a year a customer can save 12,700 litres of water, the equivalent of 64 full bathtubs or 254 kids baths!
Ideal for growing children, the customer can swap their rented clothing at any point, return items in the reusable returns pouch and receive credit back to choose their next bundle. The returned items will be professionally cleaned, mended (if needed) and ready to be rented again with different price ranges to reflect their condition (e.g., brand spanking new, gently worn and well loved). Then when the clothes simply don’t look their best, they will be broken down and recycled in the UK.
Glynis Williams, John Lewis & Partners Kids & Baby Fashion Category Lead says, “We’re thrilled to be launching a collection of baby and childrenswear clothing with thelittleloop, giving customers a more sustainable option to rent high quality John Lewis clothing through a trusted partnership.
The partnership with thelittleloop reflects our ambition to offer more sustainable ownership options and forms part of the commitment we made to our customers to reduce the greenhouse gas footprint of our textile supply chains by 50% by 2030. “
Charlotte Morley, Founder of thelittleloop says, “Partnering with John Lewis is a significant moment for thelittleloop as it takes us a huge step closer to our mission to embed true circularity into the DNA of all ethical businesses within the childrenswear space. John Lewis is rightly proud of the quality of their children’s clothing, and we’re delighted to add it to our range. Both to improve choice for our customers, and also to provide John Lewis with valuable data about garment quality and performance to aid future circular design.”
Deborah Meaden, Entrepreneur and Dragon’s Den Investor in thelittleloop comments, “thelittleloop is the future of fashion rental, allowing parents an option to rent ethical, beautiful clothing for their children at affordable prices while limiting the harm to the planet. Their partnership with John Lewis is an exciting launch that shows high street brands are making positive changes to shape how consumers shop.”
The products are from our own SS22 John Lewis label however, with thelittleloop you can mix and match your rental options to support a variety of brands. Something we encourage other brands to get on board and look at childrenswear rental as a more sustainable option.
As a purpose-led brand with sustainability deeply rooted in our DNA, we’re always looking for new innovative initiatives and solutions, from launching our furniture rental trial, hosting Vinteriors in John Lewis Kingston and looking ahead to womenswear rental in the future. Our partnership with
thelittleloop is just one step we’re taking on our mission to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions and water footprints of our textile supply chains by 50% and 30% respectively by 2030.