Corby mums united by love of charity shops set up pre-loved clothes business

Natalie Belton and Lauren Noakes had been pals when Natalie’s mother childminded Lauren and they met up again when, as parents, they went to the same mums’ group.

Natalie said: “Our sons, Brodie and Jacky, were born two weeks apart and had become best friends so we became inseparable.

“We realised we had similar interests in second-hand shopping and trying to do our bit help protect the environment.

“As a treat, when we didn’t have the kids with us, we would go to the charity shops around Corby. Our entire wardrobes apart from one or two things are second-hand.

“We came up with a business idea for Rewind Clothing in 2018 and we went through the Princes Trust to learn more about business - by April 2019 we went live.”

The pair got their first donations of unwanted clothes for their online shop, free, from family and friends and from others via social media.

Now Natalie, 31, who also works part-time as a dental nurse, and 30-year-old Lauren, run the business from their Corby homes.

The pair sort through donations choosing items to keep if either of them would wear it - anything from ‘granny chic’ to ‘punk’.

Unwanted clothing then gets passed on to charity shops or for recycling.

After washing, ironing and repairing, the garments are photographed ready for sale.

Natalie said: “We are an online shopping experience that showcases pre-loved and reworked clothing with life still left in them.

“We are trying to help make second-hand clothing fashionable and stop perfectly good clothing from going to waste.

“So many of the clothes we are given have only been worn once or twice. We need to change everyone’s mindset on throwaway fashion.

“The amount of stuff that goes straight in the bin is shocking. People intend to give it to charity but never get round to it and end up chucking it away. Even charity shops have a limited capacity.”

An area of the business they hope to expand is ‘re-editing’ clothing where damaged garments are adapted by the crafty twosome adding their own designer touches.

Natalie said: “For example we had a ‘Killstar’ brand dress which had bleach down the front of the skirt. We chopped it into a top and cut in a fringe.

“We will look at an item and work on it. We like unique and edgy clothing and like to ‘funk’ things up. I like to do embroidery in my spare time so I want to add some simple hand embroidered designs to the clothes.”

The pair will be launching their children’s range later this year after a photo shoot in Corby using models of different sizes and styles.

Natalie added: “We try to cater for everyone and be as inclusive as possible, we don’t gender the clothes either.

“We want to show that everyone can be fashionable and look great in second-hand clothing.

“We want a better future for our children and future generations.”

The online shop is at https://www.rewindclothing.co.uk.