With the aim of slowing down fast fashion and making sustainable secondhand fashion more stylish, Secondhand Styling UK is opening its first swap, shop and style studio in Knutsford next month.
Located on Minshull Street, above children’s boutique Mini & Moi, the studio will officially open on Saturday 22nd April (Earth Day), a date specifically selected as it aims to highlight the importance of climate change, sustainable fashion and food and an end to plastic pollution.
Lucy Norris, creative director, stylist and founder of Secondhand Styling UK, and a recent contestant on Dragon’s Den, is committed to transforming the shopping habits of consumers, making secondhand more fashionable, desirable and accessible for all.
The opening of the studio will allow Lucy to continue to educate on the benefits of swapping clothes and shopping secondhand, highlighting how it can help to reduce our carbon footprints and impact on the environment. With vast experience in the fashion sector in the UK and US, Lucy is already an established and successful stylist and will be offering personal styling advice from the studio too.
Lucy says: “I have always wanted to open a studio, allowing people the chance to swap, shop and pick up styling tips, so this really is a dream come true for me. My mum brought me up on her own and she made pre-loved items look fantastic, which is where I inherited my passion for secondhand. Now I want to impart my knowledge and top tips to customers, encouraging them to shop consciously, buy better and love things for longer.
“The items in the studio will be carefully selected and quality controlled, ensuring we only offer the best pre-loved items. They will be colour co-ordinated and grouped into ‘looks’, helping customers with direction and styling, and putting some fun back into everyday dressing and our individual style statements.”
The studio will be open on a part time basis (Friday and Saturday) to start with, and appointments will be required for a 10 minute style chat and consultation with Lucy.
There will be a fee of £25 to swap three items, including dresses, tops and jackets, and a dedicated rail of designer and/or vintage pieces. A service to repair and alter items will also be available, and private swap, style and shop parties can also be arranged.
Lucy concludes: “I jumped at the chance of opening my first studio in Knutsford and love the location above Mini & Moi. In recent months I have got to know Kayley Gibbons, owner of Mini & Moi and a fellow female entrepreneur, and its great to have a like-minded business woman on hand to share thoughts and ideas. The studio is a new concept for Secondhand Styling UK but I firmly believe the swap, shop and style offering will ensure it is commercially viable in the long term as more and more people commit to making a real effort to dress more sustainably.”
