eBay UK and the British Fashion Council have announced The Seam, an on-demand tailoring business, as the grand prize winner in its Circular Fashion Innovator’s Fund (CFIF) initiative.
The Circular Fashion Innovator’s Fund aims to help small businesses that are providing sustainable fashion solutions to grow.
The fund, which launched in December 2022, has awarded six businesses – including social fashion rental app By Rotation and the Circular Textiles Foundation – £100,000 of grant funding, as well as mentoring from industry leaders.
Lucy Peacock, Head of Pre-loved, eBay UK, commented: “It’s our goal to leverage our industry expertise and connections to help more businesses at the forefront of the circular economy, and last year we saw a 24% in new circular fashion businesses listing on our platform.
“It’s been inspiring to see how the first CFIF cohort is flourishing following a dedicated mentoring programme and with the support of our grant funding. We look forward to expanding the programme in the years to come and continuing to support transformative change.”
We will use the £10,000 funding to help accelerate The Seam’s growth.
The Seam provides an on-demand tailoring service, which makes clothing alterations and repairs accessible through tech. eBay UK says the business has already completed more than 10,000 repairs and provides white-labelled care and repair services to fashion retailers.
The Seam has now been awarded the CFIF grand prize by judges from eBay UK, the British Fashion Council and the Ellen McArthur Foundation, in recognition of its “innovation and approach to sustainability”.
Sharing her plans for the prize money, Layla Sargent, Founder and CEO of The Seam, said: “We will use the £10,000 funding to help accelerate The Seam’s growth, by developing its data and insight capabilities to drive behavioural change within the industry.
“By developing our data, we will focus on informing consumers of their carbon savings and the increase in resale value when they repair a pre-loved garment. We will also use insights to inform brands about the lifecycle of their products to encourage greater circularity.”
