We are passionate about designing and making 'Forever Pieces' to be loved and lived in. Designed and created in London, our clothes are made with great attention to detail to ensure they last and can be handed down through generations.
We are absolute proponents of the 'Not to be saved for best' philosophy - we believe that if you invest in an O Pioneers piece - wear it! Everyday! Our pieces are designed to be worn and loved for many years and will stand the test of time.
As part of our commitment to circularity and to ensure your O Pioneers pieces live on, we offer subsidised alterations and free repairs on all our items.
‘Buy well, buy once’ is our mantra.
As working mums, we understand the fine balance between work and family, it is important to us to collaborate and work with other female-led businesses and artisans.
Team
We are proud of our friendly and relaxed working environment. Workers are paid at least the London Living Wage. We understand the work/life balance, therefore support flexible working.
Community
All O Pioneers collections are designed and produced in London or hand-knitted in the UK, investing in the local economy is important to us.
We value and support talented makers from all ages and walks of life - we have a dedicated team of home knitters, dotted around the UK - fitting in the knitting around their lives and doing as much or as little as they wish. Our dedicated WhatsApp group keeps everyone connected and proved to be a lifeline during Covid.
We work with talented women who share our vision and help us create our beautiful collections.
Charity
We regularly support causes, local schools and charities dear to us. We donate pieces from our collections for fund raising activities and regularly donate a percentage of sales. Charities include Age UK, Child Bereavement UK, SLOW, The Intensive Care Society, SmartWorks and Choose Love.
Equity
We are a female-founded and led business. All team members are women and we seek out other local, female-led businesses to work and collaborate with. We don’t discriminate based on age – many of our makers are women in their 60’s, 70’s and even 80’s.
Customers
We bring customers on our journey and invite them to share our sustainable practices. We create items that can be worn across seasons and advise on how to get the most out of each piece we sell.
Minimal Waste
We are thrifty at heart! We cannot bear waste and therefore use every scrap of material left over from our main production for design embellishments such as patchwork and applique in our limited run pieces as well as accessories. We create knickers, hair bows and ribbon ties with smaller amounts of fabrics we have left.
Fabrics
We use mono-fibre fabrics in EVERYTHING we create - 100% Cotton / 100% Silk / 100% Wool.
Mono-fibres are beneficial for many reasons. We believe they are nicer and healthier to wear against the skin, they're easier to recycle, more durable and likely to last longer and easier to care for - all our cotton dresses can be washed in a cool wash in the washing machine without the need for damaging dry cleaning.
We carefully select all our fabrics ourselves from suppliers such as:
Liberty Fabrics - who are members of the BCI (Better Cotton Initiative) and offer GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certified prints. https://www.libertyfabric.com/responsibility/
We source much of our plain cottons from a circular system marketplace that connects fashion houses and designers with high end suppliers' excess inventories.
Wool - we source over 60% of our wool from a UK mill in Yorkshire who assure responsibly sourced fleece from field to mill all processed within a 20 mile radius to reduce carbon footprint.
Other wool suppliers have responsible sourcing contracts with their suppliers to ensure environmental and animal welfare standards are adhered to.
Carbon Reduction
We are very mindful in everything we do and create at O Pioneers.
We design consciously, reusing silhouettes and shapes to reduce 'reinventing the wheel' and all the additional waste that goes along with this.
We manufacture locally (within a 20 mile radius) to minimise our carbon footprint.
Managed office waste disposal via First Mile with dedicated recycling. Carefully considered coffee making facilities for minimum waste - ie filter NOT pods
We use sensored lighting in our offices.
Use recyclable paper mailers made with FSC certified paper from sustainably managed forests and recyclable tissue paper. Reusable organic cotton shopping bags.
We avoid the use of plastic wherever possible. We use none in our packaging.
All visual props at our store are recycled, dead stock, reused or derived from natural sources - eg wheat for window displays, vintage furniture etc.
All team members walk, cycle or use public transport to travel to work.
We promote environmental responsibility in our home working environments.
We design and produce everything in the UK - ALL of our dresses and separates are made in London by a handful of small, talented and trusted manufacturers.
Our knitwear is hand-knitted by our team of talented home knitters who are dotted around the UK.
We have a passion for traditional British crafts and incorporate these skills, such as quality dressmaking, hand knitting, patchwork and applique into our collections.
As all our production is based in the UK, mostly in London, within a 20mile radius, transportation costs are kept to an absolute minimum, along with the environmental impact that goes with it.
