Sheffield duo set up sustainable, Sheffield-based business after attending Creamfields Music Festival to participate in the clean up and were left shocked by how many tents had been abandoned.
Founders of the brand ReTribe Lauren Mason, 35 and Ben Harman, 33 had been colleagues for 10 years in the apparel industry prior to setting up their new business.
Lauren said: “Our brand is a sustainable movement where we are producing new products in Sheffield from waste that we salvage or find.”
Lauren and Ben knew the rejected gear from the festival would end up in landfill so they decided to salvage what they could to produce unique products ranging from bags to jackets.
Lauren said: “We were just blown away really with the sea that was left behind so we ended up taking 50 tents and 30 sleeping bags back with us.”
Lauren said: “We came back from Creamfields knowing we have this really specific knowledge and ability so it’s only us that can really do this.”
Lauren had been a product designer and developer for 17 years and said, “It is all I have ever done.
“We had a unique idea but it is a trend that customers want uniqueness, they want to be seen with one-offs and we could fill that gap.”
ReTribe sold their first product in October which was their bottle bag, Lauren said: “We had a purpose and it all came together quite quickly.”
The sustainable business receives pallets of free products from companies with warehouses full of broken, returned and damaged stock that they can’t do anything with.
“We’ve got so much it’s absolutely endless but we are doing them a huge favour by keeping production in a circular loop.”
Lauren said: “In the future we want to see other bigger companies reproducing from the waste that they’ve got to reduce waste and carbon emissions.”
The 7 month old business has a fundraiser on GoFundMe, Lauren said: “We set it up to really just help us keep running until we have a big following and bigger momentum.”