What is YUGLET
Our YUGLET founder Valerie Smith has historical experience in the textile industry, selling her designs to some of the most prestigious international design houses in Europe, Japan and US. YUGLET inspiration came from lockdown, when she considered the problems of Climate Change and Ocean Micro Plastics and remembered working with Shetland sheep, tough and feisty little sheep, but with the softest wool ever! So she started building a website and began visualising how the the brand might look and came up with the idea that it had to be a Scottish brand with a modern twist that would celebrate our land and culture.
YUGLET was born...
YUGLET is a micro brand bringing to the market, #WearRealFleece contemporary apparel, based in Scotland. Using sustainable, locally sourced wool from Shetland & The British Isles and made with innovative stitch structures & advanced knitting technologies. The garments have a special finish. They are warm and comfortable to wear.
As well as practical advantages YUGLET offers conscious aware consumers’ products that address climate change as an alternative to plastic based outdoor clothing. There are also ethical advantages as YUGLET only sources ‘cruelty free wool’ from farmers that do not practice mulesing.
Our target niche is outdoor adventurers/explorers looking for more comfortable and durable outdoor clothes. We know we have demand as – from a combination of direct talks and online engagement. Many outdoor adventurers we spoke with favoured wool as their preferred purchase, but found they had difficulty in finding such a product. Many also stated that synthetic material made them sweat and feel cold after excertion for example climbing or uphill trekking.
PERFECT FOR OUTDOOR ADVENTURE
Made with super soft wool, strong and durable, the unique wool finish works the fibres together so that your garment will last for longer and can be worn for longer too. It’s naturally breathable and resists perspiration. Perfect for your outdoor adventure.
Whether you’re outside exploring or hunkered down in a mountain cabin, wearing YUGLET apparel makes you feel protected, warm and super cosy in the wildest of places.
CLOTHES + TEXTILES ARE THE No 1 SOURCE OF MICRO PLASTICS IN THE OCEANS - Our wool can be certified under the Global Organic Textile Standard and we will increase our offering to other products made from this fibre.
The clothing industry is arguably exploitive, highly wasteful and a major contributor to climate change. Our YUGLET garments are designed to be sustainable and we are taking action to measure and mitigate waste in terms of water, chemicals and simplified supply chains.
Impact - Environmental
The British Wool Marketing Board are launching 100% traceable wool scheme and will support us with marketing materials.
Our wool products are made from bio gradable wool, can last a lifetime and reduce environmental impact. Our wool is highly ethical, sourced from small crofters in Shetland and British Sheep farmers.
We intend to stay true to our cause, made stronger by our heritage and have ambitions to grow and develop wool apparel, designed and manufactured to support a net zero strategy.
Impact - Circular Economy
YUGLET promotes longer wear garments by design. We state in our website that our garments are repairable. Going forward we will promote this by showing online creative content of ‘How to Repair’ or ‘Return to re -cycle’ garments. Many garments currently on the outdoor market are not repairable for a number of reasons, they are made from unsustainable material that loses its functionality and therefore generally considered as ‘one season’ only kit.
Garment life span and conscious wearing is an important part of our brand ethos and our story and we will expand on this in marketing campaigns.
Impact - Rural Community
There has been much comment over the years about the price of wool with a recent headline - Sheepwool ‘barely worth selling anymore'. In an effort to improve the price of wool The British Wool Scheme launched in 2021 says 100% traceable wool scheme will pass a premium back to the producers whose wool has been selected. With this in mind our wool has been carefully sourced from Shetland and the British mainland supporting UK sheep farmers and helping crofters by supplementing their income.
What we have achieved so far:
- Built our website and have a tribe of 3000+ followers on Instagram.
- Developed and ‘approved’ the first material samples.
- Placed our first accessory order with our manufacturers.
- Generated interest and validated our offering by engaging with our audience in the UK and US.
Over the last year experimental yarns and garments have been tested by the outdoor sector. Keen interest from mountaineers, climbers, adventurers, influencers and the outdoor sector is really exciting. Offers of support in field testing, wear trials and collaborations has been hugely helpful and encouraging. This activity going forward will result in further followers and valuable customer validation and UGC (user generated content). Previous concept testing can be seen on INSTAGRAM stories @yugletoutdooradventure
The business is pre-trading and is ready to start Crowd Funding. An initial website is in place for awareness building and currently design, marketing and order processing is all done from home. Potential studio + retail space is available which is ideally placed on the busy North Coast 500 Route, it is the founders vision to become an adventure hub for adventure travellers visiting the local area and beyond. Click the link below and...
Join us right now on our Adventure North Coast 500 https://www.yuglet.co.uk
YUGLET will be exclusively marketed and sold to customers by the company's own 'brand held' ecommerce site.
Our wool has a unique special finish making it more robust, super soft and longer wearing. All the natural performance properties of wool are enhanced by innovative design. YUGLET will be marketed as 'the expedition adventure garment’ to wear when you need to keep safe and warm. In locations such as The Cairngorms or for those who just love wool & wild places and care for the planet. Styling will be contemporary, modern with colour combos to excite, and will be priced at the top end of a niche market and Made in Scotland.
Utilisation of Crowd Fund with your help we want to deliver:
- Order our first batch of pre production garments to enable us to market a crowd fund ‘early bird ‘ offer, which if successful, will generate our first production order to our knitwear manufacturers in Scotland.
- Facilitate the cost of production machine set up. Including the cost of raw materials, garment and design programming, expert technical support. Garment sizing trials and labels needed to deliver the above.
- Garments that will provide valuable marketing material and UGC ( Use Generated Content ) for online social media and therefore help to raise important next stage funding and help accelerate growth.
- Hire a professional videographer and photographer to make a promotional film to use in our ‘next stage’ Crowd Fund activity. This activity will only be possible if we raise more than our £5,000 + ask.
So this is what we need to raise:
We are ready to Crowd Fund to raise £5,000 + to provide garments to promote and sell to already interested parties in year one. We will then ‘sell in advance’ and manufacture in pre-paid batches before we are in a position to seek a further crowd fund. Thereafter business growth for the next 2 years will be B2C based on social media management and organic growth.
So here is the opportunity ...
" The YUGLET project is part of the Creative Scotland Crowdmatch - 1 of 20 shortlisted creative projects in Scotland - we have the opportunity to win a share of £80,000 in match funding, up to £10,000 per project."
This is part of the YUGLET adventure challenge. There are 'tough task' Mile stones ahead. We must achieve and we must get to them...
Match funding is only available on a first come, first served basis to the 20 shortlisted projects subject to hitting milestones two, three and four outlined below.
Milestone one
We need to raise £1,000 from at least 30 supporters, receive a £1,000 pledge.
Milestone two
Raise a further £1,500 from the crowd (total amount raised £3,500), receive a £1,500 pledge.
Milestone three
Then raise a further £2,500 from the crowd (total amount raised £7,500), receive a £2,500 pledge.
Milestone four
Raise a further £5,000 from the crowd (total amount raised £15,000), from at least 200 supporters, receive a £5,000 pledge.
Collaborations
We are always scoping for joint marketing partners in the outdoor adventure market. These must be like minded businesses and ideally based in Scotland. And or micro influencers who love wool, wild places and care for the planet. We welcome any business or individuals to get in touch, we are happy to explore any potential collaborations. So please reach out, and speak with us if that’s something you would like to consider. We would love to hear from you.
REWARDS Yuglet Woollen Hats
Our first ever YUGLET woollen hat in our distinctive brand colours.
Heritage Blanket
ONE ONLY - LUXE SUPER BLANKET BIG ENOUGH FOR TWO!