Emily
Pantickles is a sustainable underwear business which aims to bring fun, colour – and a little bit of silliness - into the world
Initial inspiration
Pantickles was founded by three people – Annie, Amar and myself.
For me, I’ve always had a love for fashion and started making clothes when I was 15. The first item I ever made came from my mother’s old duvet set. It was a top with only one sleeve – and the zip poked out the back.
Thankfully, I’ve improved since then. For over 10 years now I’ve been finding things to chop up and re-create – trying to give new life to the old. No curtain is safe in my house.
My passion for recycling and remaking clothes comes from knowing the damage to the environment caused by fast fashion - the second most polluting industry, globally. This year, over 300,000 tonnes of clothing will be thrown away in the UK - and I want to change that.
So Pantickles was born. Together with two friends we started a sustainable underwear business which aims to bring fun, colour – and a little bit of silliness - into the world.
Pantickles reduces waste by remaking pre-loved clothing into new garments – so that when it comes to the rear, our conscience is clear.
Memorable highs along the journey
Thinking about the cost of fast fashion on the environment can be disheartening – but we want to focus on the good.
Fashion can be fun, silly – and good for the planet. So, for us, the best part of Pantickles is the joy that our underpants bring. We’re not serious – and neither are our pants. We aim to inject colour and vibrancy into the life of our customers – and have a little laugh along the way.
Our highlight was being in the Sustainable Block Party pop-up shop this summer in Shoreditch.
Meeting like-minded people – with a vision for change – and a heart for sustainability was both encouraging and empowering. Witnessing people’s love for our pants firsthand reaffirmed to us that this is a product that is useful, affordable – and making a difference.
Formational lows
Behind every shiny exterior is a lot of grit and hard work.
When we first started, we went through 6 different iterations of pant in 6 months – trying to find the best design to minimise waste.
It felt like we would never be able to do it – like we weren’t making any progress – and that there wasn’t an end in sight.
But looking back I’m glad we invested time into getting it right at the start. It means we have a good product that we can rely on now – and that’s what matters.
Foundation verses that have inspired along the way
For me – it’s the bible’s continued focus on social justice that pushes me forward:
“Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, and please the widow's cause,” (Isaiah 1:17).
Key advice to other pioneers
Really simply: Keep going!
Sometimes the best way forward is to just get on and do – you can learn along the way, but the main thing is that you’re doing something.
Team
Emily, Annie and Amar
Timing
September 2020
Funding
Self-funded
