Y.O.U underwear is a sustainable fashion brand started by Sarah Jordan, with a range of underwear for women, men and girls. Sarah’s business model puts the Earth and people first and I got to speak to her about what inspired her to create her company and her companies inspiring “Buy one, give two” on going promotion in partnership with Smalls for All.

MR: What inspired you to start Your Own Underwear (Y.O.U)?

SJ: It was a slightly unexpected journey, I suppose. I wasn't setting out to run an underwear business or do any of this actually, but I was in Uganda, in 2016 and I was volunteering as part of the Uganda Marathon program working with women in local communities. While I was there I found a group of women making sanitary towels and nappies but they were struggling to build their business because a lot of the local women didn't have any underwear, so they were unable to use their product. 

This really struck me, because it’s something that we take for granted, it's literally the first thing you put on in the morning and if you don't have it, the impact is absolutely huge. It’s a very obvious health and hygiene issue that can actually hinder your access to education because if you're on your period and you don't have any protection, then you can't go to school - these girls were basically missing 25% of their education just because they didn’t have a pair of pants.

That stuck with me and I couldn't let that go, because something so simple had such a huge impact on these girls. So, I started to look at how I could provide them with underwear.

I had no idea what I was doing - how'd you manufacture underwear? There were a lot of challenges but I discovered that cotton was better for you as a fabric, particularly when it's close to your body but actual conventional cotton was incredibly polluting - it's actually one of the world's most polluting crops because it uses a huge amount of pesticides and water. 

I sort of joined those dots and decided I was going to create a business that was sustainable, manufacturing fairly to support people and women through the supply chain. I also wanted to create a giving back model, so to try and solve this problem I created the buy one give two model. This all started because I was trying to solve that problem and it ended up being an underwear business.

MR: How did you come up with the name?

SJ: So, Y.O.U stands for Your Own Underwear, because we believe everybody deserves that. So it's kind of going back to the origins or the inspiration behind the business and wanting to show what a difference you having underwear can make to your life.

MR: I love the sustainability values of your company - what steps have you taken to ensure your company remains sustainable?

SJ: Sustainability is at the heart of what we are doing, and we've got environmental and social measures in place. One of the challenges with sustainability is that when you unpack it, it means different things to different people, but it's about kind of identifying your values and what's important to you. When I started to look into it, I wanted to make sure that we could be as sustainable as possible. So that includes our products, our packaging, our electricity use, the ink that we use, the bank that we bank with and really making sure that across the board, everything we do is having a positive impact.

We registered as a B Corp last year and I’ve also kind of been looking at what we could do now and where we want to be in the future. As a small business, it’s quite hard to do some of these things in the beginning but it's about being clear about where you are now, where you want to go and taking your customers with you and saying, we're doing the best that we can, but this is where we want to go.

MR: I totally agree, I think customers appreciate companies who are transparent and honest. 

SJ: Exactly. We want to take them with us. 

We are always looking at how we could incorporate things like planting trees. We recently changed our Black Friday promotion to a Green Friday where we planted trees for every order and collaborated with the Eden Reforestation Projects.

We've also worked with Treedom since then to have geotagged trees planted for different promotions. And we now plant one for every person that signs up to our email newsletter. So it's just trying to do that with every thing that we do. Obviously organic cotton is better in terms of the water saving and the pollution and sort of energy usage, but more broadly, I suppose, really embedding that into the business.

We've registered as a social enterprise and have formally set up the company with a legal structure that promises to commit to all of these things. So, we try and make sure that we're doing that across the board, really, and sharing that in our Impact Report. So that we can continue to be transparent with our customers about the impact that we're having on the environment. We are open about what we're doing now and what we want to do in future. So it's quite a light turn from providing underwear to trying to be a good business, a sustainable business.

MR: Yeah, I love that because I do find a lot of the time transparency, especially in fashion, is something that you don't often see. There's a lot of greenwashing in fashion. 

MR: What other steps have you taken to sustain your current sustainability model post Brexit and throughout the pandemic?  

SJ: Brexit and the pandemic have both had quite a significant impact on us, just because we used to sell quite a lot into Europe so our sales have dropped considerably. The pandemic affected a lot of small and independent businesses and has had a huge impact on us. So, we worked with India's leading ethical and sustainable manufacturer who works with only fully certified organic cotton and unfortunately they closed down during the pandemic. Our priority during that time was keeping our team safe not getting stock through but it has definitely caused challenges around getting supplies through, especially in the organic cotton industry because workforces around the world are impacted, and are restricted in terms of numbers and access. So it does continue to cause challenges, of course, it's had less of an impact on the sustainability side because we’ve kept going. We haven't compromised on sustainability, things just slowed down, in terms of sales and again, we've had to be really transparent with our customers, keeping them informed. 

We've shifted everything online to keep people safe here and haven't done the usual markets and pop-ups that we normally do, but it's just being really clear with people and saying things are taking longer, bear with us, this is where our supply and stock is and, you know, we’re about supporting slow fashion so the advantage is people are a little bit more patient. 

It’s important to us to continue to stick to our values and continue to support different charities with each new launch and reviewing our sources, transport and having continued confidence in how we operate. 

MR: During the course of building your business, what have been some of the ups and downs that you have encountered?

SJ: It's hard starting a small business, some of those issues around sustainability that I mentioned earlier. It means something and nothing to people, how do you define that and what decisions and compromises do you have to make to be sustainable? It costs a lot more but it's something that I really fundamentally believe in and strongly stand by as part of my personal core values, but it is a much more challenging way to start a business because it's a lot more expensive.

It costs us three or four times more for pretty much everything than it would do if we were to just source our materials from less sustainable manufacturers. So, getting started is therefore a bit slower and more complicated. Product businesses generally have cash flow issues because you have to buy all the stock, pay for everything in advance and then sort of earn that back.

We did early Crowdfunding to get our first range launched which helped us kickstart the business. I’ve also had to self fund the business and have had other jobs on the side while I got the business off the ground and then I just jumped into this full-time and employed my first member of staff two weeks before the start of locked down last year, so timing wasn't ideal. I had to make tough decisions around what to do and how to grow sustainably. To have the impact that we want in the long term we need to stay in business, we need to be a successful business and we need to continue growing so that we can continue to reach more people. And so you're constantly making decisions and trying to work out the best way to grow. And I think some of our things around inclusivity as well are hard to be honest because most brands only offer a few sizes for women, they're not particularly inclusive. We have nine sizes, but it's hard to have that stock because it costs us a lot more and it just means we've got a slower business model, I suppose. And then when you factor in things like the impact of COVID with different countries closing down for that period and delays of six months in getting stocked through and then Brexit comes, it just exacerbates all of that.

So it's been an experience. I love it. It's hard work but, I suppose that's part of the challenge and the fun of doing it. I think if you weren't passionate about it, it wouldn't be quite as in your forefront of things to do. You need to be passionate about what you’re doing and be motivated to keep going. Having something you're passionate about is really helpful when it comes to getting out of bed in the morning and kind of going for it.

MR: I love the fact you use models of all sizes and ages - was that intentional or was it something you decided later on? 

SJ: Yeah, it was intentional, we wanted to represent all bodies, all shapes, sizes, ethnicities and abilities, because I think you don't see that in a lot of marketing, you don't see that in fashion, it's not hugely representative. We are about empowering women and that includes our customers, therefore it means having bodies that all of our customers can relate to. 

When I first started out I would rope in my friends and family to model for me - I even made my dad model in his underwear on his 80th birthday, which he has never forgiven me for. And that's kind of how I started, you know, bringing in people that we know, but then extending that to customers. I want to show that we genuinely believe everybody is beautiful. We know some of the issues around mental health, body, positivity, body confidence, and wanted to kind of do a small bit, I suppose, to tackle that and by having inclusive and representative sizing in our underwear, in the images that we use because it is really important and it's also important for men as well as women and younger girls as well. So yeah, it's definitely something we've consciously done. 

MR: Yeah, you can tell. Your branding looks really organic and not forced which is something you see with certain brands. 

SJ: Yeah. I mean, it's hard at times, so if anybody's listening and is interested in volunteering, we're always looking for models. It is a tough thing to do, to get into your underwear in front of the camera. I think as you say, it's something that you often see, but you don't really believe it's  genuine and authentic. And we really want to kind of make sure that that's the case with everything that we do. So if people are interested, definitely get in touch. 

MR: Amazing. We'll definitely do a post about that for you!

SJ: Yes please, help us recruit.

MR: We have seen brands like Victoria Secret change their branding after backlash  - do you see ethical marketing becoming more popular? Brands that actually use different types of models and not air brush their images.

SJ: Yeah, it was amazing. Ethical marketing is becoming more popular as brands sort of realise that you can actually reach a larger demographic that way. 

MR: And that you don't have to airbrush everything. 

SJ: Exactly. Gosh, I really hope so because it's really important. I think the original Victoria Secret Angels and the hyper-sexualised images were more about what men wanted than what women wanted. And I think they’ve always had that male lens when it comes to marketing and advertising, it's also not inclusive or ethical in a broader sense. And I really hope that this shift becomes more widespread.

I hope it lasts and I hope it's genuine as well, because I think Greenwashing, as you mentioned, you see these images that are more inclusive, but actually the brand behind it isn't necessarily supporting it and I think Victoria Secret said they are going through a more comprehensive rebrand -  I hope it's for genuine reasons, not just commercial. It's still a positive move in the right direction. There are so many figures around women having low self-esteem about their bodies and it's not just social media, but it definitely plays a part. And certainly for younger girls who are getting this message increasingly at a younger age which is why it’s so important for big brands to shift away from that and be a bit more inclusive - it should be about empowering women rather than sexualising them.

We've signed the Ethical Move Pledge so we support ethical marketing more broadly, so no airbrushing is definitely really important because the whole beach body ready and bikini body ready, you're just, oh my God, just get a bikini, get your body and you’re ready!

It’s really important to us to remain ethical, we don’t believe in pressuring our customers so we don’t use constant sales and urgency countdowns that just pressurises us to feel we need to buy more. And I think that's one of the things that makes it difficult being a product business, but fortunately underwear is something that everybody needs, but it is about not encouraging excessive consumption as much as anything and saying, we have to value our clothes, we have to value everything that we buy, respect it, make it last and invest in it and care a bit more because the amount of stuff that we're throwing away just ends up in landfill.

MR: What inspired you to include positive messages in all of your underwear?

SJ: It was one of those little ideas that you start off with that sort of becomes something that actually gets a lot of positive feedback and I wanted to have a little positive reminder, I suppose, for the people wearing our underwear, that they did make a difference. And it's all about empowering people, giving them confidence and showing the collective impact of what people are doing. So it was very much about encouraging people and giving them a little boost in an unexpected moment.

MR: I love that. 

SJ: Eventually, I really want my customers to be able to customise them and write their own mantra that inspires them. 

MR: You named your girls bralettes after villages in Uganda - do you still do a lot of work there?

SJ: Yeah, we do. So, as I said, Uganda was my original inspiration and our partnership with Small for All allows us to continue working there, they donate to various rural communities and also refugee and IDP camps in Uganda. I would love to go back there and actually see the underwear being donated and the impacts that it makes.

It was two local girls who got in touch with me and said that there wasn't anything suitable for their age group, who were 10 years old and looking at buying their first bra. A lot of the bras that were available were either really inappropriate or too boring, kind of lacking in style and they wanted something that didn’t make them feel too adult or too childish. They actually designed them, they drew the designs that they wanted and sent them to me and asked if I could make it for them and I was more than happy to oblige because obviously there’s a gap in the market. It's something that they really felt strongly about that wasn't available for younger girls. And the naming of it came out of that. There are so many challenges around sizing so with these designs we really didn't want people to feel that pressure so instead of using traditional sizing we named each bralet size after Ugandan villages.

MR: I love that, I truly believe traditional sizing should be scrapped because it's inconsistent and just adds to body image anxiety. That's why I prefer shopping in vintage stores because a lot of the time clothes aren’t organised in traditional sizes - you just pick up an item that looks like it might fit, so you don’t have that added sizing anxiety, that worry of having to go up a size dissipates. 

SJ: It's complicated going shopping because the sizing is so varied, you never quite know, and you have to buy two or three sizes and then return the ones that don't fit. Which is why as clothing brands and manufacturers, we need to make stuff that lasts because we've seen the amount of stuff that gets thrown away, the quality has definitely declined. 

MR: I absolutely love your Buy One, Give Two scheme, what inspired you to start it? 

SJ: Yeah, so it stemmed from my original inspiration of wanting to give back and provide underwear but we were only able to donate short term and I knew this was obviously a problem that wasn’t going to go away short term. So, I wanted to work with a business that could make a difference over an extended period of time. It first started out as Buy One, Give One because that was very tangible, we knew exactly what we were donating and our customers knew the impact each of their purchases made. We later partnered up with a business in Woking who loved what we were doing and really saw the benefit and the impact of it, so they partnered with us to match our donations, enabling us to donate 2 pairs of underwear with every purchase. We've been working together for the last three years. They’ve enabled us to do more and double our impact which is amazing. So far we have donated over 15,500 pairs of underwear to support women in Africa and the UK.

It really is about transparency and knowing where the donations are going and allowing us to support a charity directly, as well as the new initiatives. We've actually had a new collection that launched today that's in partnership with a charity called Future Dreams that supports people with breast cancer. So we've got a pink range and we're donating a pound from every sale to them. 

MR: Can you tell me a little more about your partnership with Smalls for All?

SJ: Yeah, Smalls for All are amazing. Um, they are based just outside Edinburgh in Scotland and they work, well, originally they worked in Africa to provide underwear to people that needed it - mostly women and girls, in rural communities or in refugee or IDP camps, where they don't have access to underwear. They also work in the UK, there has been a major increase in period poverty here and the need for underwear is the same as the need for sanitary protection. They do a lot of work with homeless charities, homeless shelters and women's refuges. The issue is that underwear is the least donated item, if you're donating to a homeless shelter, you don't tend to think about underwear, but actually it's something that people need, particularly if they're living out on the streets or women that are in vulnerable situations. The donations go to wherever the need is greatest. We also collect brass for them, so lightly used second hand bras are re-distributed because they're really a highly valuable item and in a lot of countries you just can't get good quality bras. So we collect those and send them to Smalls for All. 

MR: Amazing. Yeah, you never really think about the poverty in your own country.

SJ: No 

MR: You'd think as a first world country, that it wouldn't be as great but it has definitely gotten worse in the UK. 

SJ: It has and it's really sad. We've obviously seen food bank usage increase, homelessness and period poverty increase over the years. There's a lot of good work being done to increase access to period products, especially in school and Scotland has been doing a great job with that but we still have a long way to go because it's a growing issue which is something I’ve learned having worked with Smalls for All the last few years. 

MR: Would you ever delve into the world of sustainable period products?

SJ: Yes! I've always really wanted to do it because I think it's really important not just because of period poverty but also having alternative sustainable options, such as reusable towels, organic tampons or period pants, I think we need more choice. We need more knowledge around everything related to periods and menstrual health and women's health more generally because it's still a bit of a taboo.

Sustainability is obviously a really core part of our business, so sustainable period products, again, kind of are a no brainer in that sense. We've actually just launched a marketplace where we're selling related products that we aren't producing ourselves, but we do offer a period cup there.

I really want to create our own period pants because as I mentioned earlier organic cotton is more breathable and better for your skin so creating period pants out of that material would be ideal. It is more of a technical product that takes longer to develop, but we are hoping to create something like that in the next couple of years. 

At the moment we are working on a more supportive bralette that works better for larger sizes and a bikini briefs that provides more coverage and then later I would like to focus on creating period pants, so that’ll be the next thing on my list. 

MR: I absolutely love period pants. I think they're amazing. My current favourites are Dorina pants which I randomly found online. I would recommend period pants to everyone because they are so comfortable and I feel more comfortable. Period pants will change your life! I wish I had them when I was 14. 

SJ: Yeah, I totally agree. I think they're brilliant. I keep telling all of my friends about them. Some of my friends who have younger girls who are just starting their periods, period pants are great for them. And they're also great as backup, apart from anything else. 

I really, I mean, all of this just kind of supports, I suppose, what I really believe in, in terms of having more choice, having more awareness education, talking about some of these issues, having sustainable products that don't do as much harm and that we don't just chuck away. I think period products and period pants are brilliant, so much more comfortable.

And I think having women in charge sounds, you know, it's like, why can't we make these decisions? Why can't we have these products? It still amazes me that we've got to 2021 and we are only just starting to really develop new period products.

MR: It is surprising, but I'm so glad that these things exist now. 

SJ: I'm also really pleased that it’s becoming more accessible as well, because I know they're not cheap because they're not cheap to manufacture, but they are now coming into high street brands, supermarkets, and I think that's really good.It’s starting the conversations, people having more choice than awareness and they are a really good product. So definitely watch this space for some Y.O.U period pants. 

MR: Name three things you can’t do without?

SJ: Yeah, so I thought about this long and hard, I had a long list and then I cut it down. My first one is underwear for obvious reasons, because it really wasn't until I went to Uganda that I realised how the fact that you can't go to school because of a pair of underwear which everybody deserves. Underwear should be human rights. Secondly would be coffee because I'm often busy and I work a lot of long hours and I just love it. I love the flavor. I love it In anything, coffee, ice cream, coffee, drinks, ice coffee, any variety. I'm a big fan. And I kind of don't feel like I can function at the start of the day until I've had.

MR: Yes,  I need my coffee too! 

SJ: I'm a big fan. And I kind of don't feel like I can function at the start of the day until I've had some. Lastly, I would say swimming because when I went to Uganda I actually broke my leg badly and I wasn’t able to do my usual exercises and I got into swimming and I found it was so good for my physical and mental health. I recently got into wild swimming in lakes and rivers surrounded by nature. I'll jump into any body of water at this point because I just love it.