Trad Collective finds new home in Leeds city centre after Greggs takes over old Headingley store

Tråd Collective first opened in Headingley by fiance's Josefin Wanner and James Fenwick in September 2021.

It launched with the ambitious goal of changing the fast fashion industry by making sustainability easier for the people of Leeds.

And this December, the brand announced on its social media channels that it has officially opened its doors to its new home in Vicar Lane.

But co-owner James Fenwick said that the decision to leave Headingley was out of their hands.

He said: “We were very sad to leave Headingley. We were given notice by our landlord to vacate as they had had a better offer from Greggs next door, they wanted to expand.

“As a small independent business we couldn’t compete with them. But since we’ve moved we’ve had old customers from Headingley come visit us to support us which is so encouraging.”

The couple had a small budget to work with and had to do much of the renovations of the former tile shop themselves.

Tråd Collective has a mission to empower customers to extend the lifespan of their clothing items. It achieves this by providing a range of services such as repair, alteration, and upcycling. This is all done in their in-house studio by seamstresses Josefin, Ruby and Emilie.

Founder Josefin said: “Working with the people of Leeds has been great, it's not just mending holes and hemming trousers, they’ve trusted me with some very special projects.

“Like making their wedding dress, I helped one customer design their dress as a separate top and skirt set so they would be able to wear them separately after the wedding, so it would be more sustainable.”

And this new approach to fashion has led the brand to be shortlisted in the best new startup category at the Business Desk Yorkshire Business awards, which will be taking place next year.

James added: “Our goal is different from fast fashion brands, when we look to measure our success, it's not profit or revenue that excites us, we look at how our store has helped the planet.

“This year we saved 2350 garments from waste that adds up to about a tonne of material waste. These are the kind of figures that make us proud of what we’ve achieved.”

Tråd Collective’s style is heavily influenced by Josefin’s Swedish heritage. It also stocks a number of Yorkshire based brands and it is looking for new local upcycled brands to stock in their store as it wants to use the larger space to promote Yorkshire designers.

Alongside clothing, Tråd Collective also offers lifestyle products such as prints from local artists, cruelty-free vegan nail varnish, jewelry from local designers as well as hair accessories and eye-masks designed and made by Josefin.