Julia Grieve was a model before she finally decided to switch career when she started a business in 1995. She opened a clothing retail Labeled as Preloved. As the name implies, the clothes they produce use the basic ingredients for recycling old clothes.
Although her business is engaged in clothing production, Julia herself does not know how to sew. She likes vintage clothes that she always takes to the tailor to shorten a dress or just change the buttons only.
As she was doing her work as a model in Japan, people kept asking where she was getting something and Julia would say that she made herself that way. Thus a brief history of her Preloved clothing label was born. The label will be an interesting blend of vintage and contemporary styles by shaping and rearranging ancient clothing into modern pieces.
Julia’s clothing business previously shop, but the growing technology makes it more focused on online sales. After nearly 18 years in retail, getpreloved.com was finally relaunched as Julia’s online boutique. The label’s products are sold worldwide, in stores such as Anthropologie, The Hudson’s Bay Company, Beams Japan, Roots, and over 400 independent boutiques.
The Preloved label has the main collection of contemporary women’s clothing, but they also make men’s and children’s clothes, as well as home decor. In one season there are about 100,000 vintage sweaters used to make the collection, the rest ending in a landfill (TPA).
Julia acknowledged that during the course of her business, the impact on her initial environment was not her concern. She just wants to make unique and different clothes. The fascinating idea that no one else has ever thought to date remains so inspiring, and recycling vintage clothing as the main ingredient of production makes it all possible.
Julia’s initial goal of building her business was to make people look great with her clothes, saving the earth a bonus that was never suspected and just happened. Therefore, she often calls himself an unintentional environmental activist.
Its products have been known and attracted many celebrities and fashion enthusiast. The customers and fans include Kate Hudson, Julia Roberts, Anne Hathaway, Christian Dunst, Angela Lindvall, Hillary Duff, Christine Horne, and Daria Werbowy.
Julia had been in the “green” fashion trend for about a decade although she insisted that her idea did not go that way at first. She always stressed that she is an impromptu environmental activist. She always feels proud of her label reusing old clothes, but staying on the growing eco-fashion topic is an ongoing effort.
At a moment when she was a speaker a few years ago, Julia was startled and enlightened when one of the audience asked about Preloved’s annual water consumption. It had never occurred to Julia before that washing old sweaters could be a bad thing. Since then she has always been cautious and pays more attention to all the activities of her company, including environmentally friendly dry washing.
Julia is always trying to keep the product local. She became a local motion product whiz before it became something big. It cannot be denied that the topic of overseas transfer operations has emerged to remain competitive, but that does not change Julia’s determination.
Julia and her team are always trying to make local products and keep their prices competitive. That’s what they always strive for every day. She believes in that way her label will be better and stronger.
Not many people can keep the business principles to stay local. For that, Julia’s perseverance deserves a thumbs up. Although it was unthinkable that her initial intentions made her business as eco-fashion, she had unwittingly contributed to saving the planet where she lived. After realizing that, she did not hesitate to put that into serious action.
We cannot just turn a blind eye to what impacts might be detrimental to the environment due to the activities we do. Who would have thought that the use and remodel old clothes can also save our beloved earth. Julia Grieve’s inadvertence in eco-fashion actually contributes to preserving the earth.
