A sustainability project looking into the brand Nobody’s Child, covering various subjects such as packaging, fabrics, company policies and sustainable movements, concluded with recommendations on how to further their sustainable practices.
By Emma Huckle
Nobody’s Child was founded by Andrew Xeni, in 2015 in London (Briggs F, 2023)
They currently have listed all of their most regular shipping countries however also note to deliver throughout the world, via DHL and DPD (Nobody’s Child 5, 2024)
They operate as an omnichannel business, sold on through their own website, physical London stores and through 3 rd party wholesalers such as John Lewis, ASOS, Next and being the first guest brand to be sold through M&S in 2021 (Briggs F, 2023). Their flagship store can be found in Carnaby Street in London, as well as summer pop up shops throughout the city.
Their main competitors are Mango, Boden, Free People, Cos and Whistles, (Similarweb, 2024), Baukjen (Wolfe I, 2023) and Anthropologie, all offering clothing at a similar price to Nobody’s Child, and to a similar market.
Entry price–Bluejersey Camitop £25(Nobody’sChild 6,2024)
Exit price–Alohas BlackBraided Heeled Boots £245(Nobody’s Child 7, 2024)
Red FloralChiffonAnya MidaxiDress £150–own brand (Nobody’sChild 8,2024)
Good, Better, Best black shirts and blouses
Balloon sleeve Ria
(Nobody’s Child 9, 2024)
(Nobody’sChild 10, 2024)
Short sleeve buttonup Shirt (lenzing ecovero viscose)
(Nobody’sChild 11, 2024)
The water visuals relate to Nobody’s Child aims for sustainable production, limiting the amount of water within their production. This can be seen through their LENZING ECOVERO fabric, opposed to traditional viscose, which has a lower carbon and water footprint. It is made from wood pulp from forests and plantations, with 50% less carbon emissions confirmed by the Higg MSI (Lenzing Ecovero,2023). They also admit to using TENCEL lyocell, which also uses less chemicals, emissions and reuses wastewater in the production process (Nobody’s Child 3, 2024) Their denim is made with none to spare in order to limit the fabric consumed. All logos are lasered on and there are no other features to the jeans unless they serve a purpose.
The purpose of merino wool to Nobody’s Child is as an alternative to synthetic knit materials, which aren’t biodegradable. Being natural, the wool is, as well as ‘durable and breathable’ (Nobody’s Child 3, 2024). Furthermore, all wool used is Responsible Wool Standard certified.
The pocket watch image is to represent Nobody’s Child’s idea of increasing products lifetimes. This can be seen through their use of rental sites, particularly HireStreet, and working with companies who fix and sell faulty products, reducing overall waste. Their brown paper bag packaging is recyclable, as well as the plastic clothes bag inside, and sourced from managed forests.
More fabrics used carefully are cotton, which is bought from exploitation free sources, avoiding particular countries known for this. Being organic, it also uses less pesticides and water than regular, helping to emit 46% less greenhouse gases by doing so (Nobody’s Child 3, 2024)
Flax, from which linen comes from, is another natural fibre, however it requires very little water and fertiliser to grow, beneficial to the environment around it. In comparison to cotton, flax uses 7000 times less water to cultivate, and the whole plant can be used in clothing, oils, seeds, cosmetics and even insulation (DarkWhite, 2021)
3 goals for the future in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
- introducing circular design principles into 75% of their range by 2025
- making every collection from 100% responsible fabrics by 2025, continuing to always produce their garments in the most responsible and up to date way
- be climate positive by 2030, updating their carbon footprint to understand their emissions and further their carbon reduction strategy, by using scientifically based targets (Nobody's Child 1, 2024).
Being devoted to avoiding irresponsible fabrics, Nobody's child are also strong believers in not using virgin animal derived leather, feathers and the use of any exotic hides from species on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora endangered animals, as well as also avoiding the use of impactful and dangerous chemicals for the protection of the environment and workers health including specific dyes and flame-retardant materials. Products which don't meet their Restricted Substance List criteria are not accepted by the company. (Nobody's Child 2, 2023)
oListed on rental site HireStreet in 2021, working closely with them to analyse data to create the best available ranges for rental. They hope to introduce this into their own website in the future (Nobody’s Child 2, 2024)
o Offer free repairs and alterations within the Carnaby St. store, allowing for garments to last longer, hoping to also install this service through their website in future as well (Nobody’s Child 3, 2024)
oNobody’s Child’s packaging is recyclable paper bags which they source from responsible practicing forests, meaning no wood is chopped through illegal logging or areas which were once farmland, keeping a balanced environment whilst maintaining the commercial needs (WWF, 2024). Recyclable plastic container bags are still used to hold garments for extra protection; however, Nobody’s Child are hoping for a ‘plastic-free future’. They experimented with biodegradable plastic however converted back due to the more complex composition requirements, threatening further pollution due to it just ending in landfill. They are still sticking with recyclable products however, for ease of recycling and disposal for their customers (Nobody’s Child 3,2024)
oIn avoidance of the release of micro-fibres into the environment, Nobody’s Child specifically choose fabrics which reduce this. 70% of their dresses are made from LENZINGTM ECOVEROTM , opposed to traditional viscose, for it doesn’t shed microplastics and is also biodegradable.
ACSClothing store eBay storefront screenshot(Huckle, 2024)
oThe use of resale sites such as eBay, the work with accounts on there to resell faulty, returned products after they’ve been fixed and cleaned, meaning less is to end up wasted in landfill.
One account believed to be partnered with them is ACSClothingltd, who sell a vast amount of Nobody’s Child’s clothing, achieving the brands' goal of circularity and reuse. ACS do the same for other brands like Monsoon and Moss Bros. All the items listed are in a range of sizes, and state clearly that the item is second hand (ACS ClothingStore, 2024)
Continue working towards an alternative to plastic clothes bags to hold garments in the post. An idea could be to offer a free tote bag after a price/item threshold is met, and then store all the items in that instead of multiple plastic ones. This also adds to Nobody’s Child’s circular goals as the bag can be reused by the customer after their purchase. After researching into this, a quote for 1000 units of Organic Cotton tote bags came to £1.16 per item (Ecoduka, 2024)
Investing more into pop up stores. These have previously only been done in London in Summer (Wightman-Stone D, 2023), however could focus on moving into other big cities within the UK like Leeds and Manchester. This will reduce the number of online orders, and with it the amount of emissions from shipping and deliveries emitted, increasing in-store purchases in turn with customers coming to you. There may also be a reduction in returns overall as customers will have the opportunity to try before they buy, as well as get a feel of the fabric and fit which is unavailable online. With their proclaimed customer being ‘thinking millennials who want style with substance’ (Next,2024), these 2 cities offer this. Leeds’ population is 34.3% millennials (ONS, 2023), and Manchester has 37.06% within the 28–44-year-old range, as well as a median age of 31 in 2021 (Manchester City Council, 2021).
ACS Clothing Store (2024). ACS Clothing Store | eBay Stores . [online] eBay. Available at: https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/acsclothingstore?_trksid=p4429486.m145687.l149086 [Accessed 12 Feb. 2024].
Briggs, F. (2023). Nobody’s Child receives financial firepower from M&S to support the growth of the brand. [online] Realtimes.co.uk. Available at:
https://retailtimes.co.uk/nobodys-child-receives-financial-firepower-from-ms-to-support-the-growth-of-the-brand/#:~:text=Nobody%27s%20Child%2C%20founded%20in %202015 [Accessed 15 Feb. 2024].
DarkWhite (2021). Flax, the sustainable fibre . [online] DARK WHITE. Available at: https://www.darkwhite.co/blogs/belgian-linen/flax-the-sustainable-fibre [Accessed 14 Feb. 2024].
Ecoduka (2024). Iris Organic Cotton Tote Bag . [online] Ecoduka. Available at: https://ecoduka.com/products/iris-organic-cotton-tote-bag [Accessed 15 Feb. 2024].
Lenzing Ecovero (2023). LENZING TM ECOVERO TM : Sustainable Viscose Fibers For Fabrics . [online] www.ecovero.com. Available at:
https://www.ecovero.com/newsroom/news/five-benefits-that-lenzing-ecovero-brings-to-planet-friendly-fashion/ [Accessed 15 Feb. 2024].
Manchester City Council (2021). Census 2021 - Demography Summary | Census 2021 - Demography Summary | Manchester City Council . [online] www.manchester.gov.uk.
Available at: https://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/500388/census_2021/8588/census_2021_-_demography_summary#:~:text=The%20median%20average%20age%20band [Accessed 15 Feb. 2024].
Next (2024). Nobody’s Child | Women’s Fashion | Next UK . [online] www.next.co.uk. Available at: https://www.next.co.uk/shop/brand-nobodyschild-0 [Accessed 15 Feb. 2024].
Nobody's Child 1 (2024). Sustainability . [online] www.nobodyschild.com. Available at: https://www.nobodyschild.com/sustainability [Accessed 11 Feb. 2024].
Nobody's Child 2 (2023). Restricted Substance List (RSL) . [online] Nobody’s Child. Available at: https://res.cloudinary.com/nobodyschild/image/upload/v1687247979/NC_RSL_Final_V4_June_2023_57.pdf [Accessed 11 Feb. 2024].
Nobody's Child 3 (2024). Sustainability | Responsible Fabrics, Supply Chain & More | Nobody’s Child . [online] www.nobodyschild.com. Available at: https://www.nobodyschild.com/sustainability/product [Accessed 12 Feb. 2024].
Nobody's Child 4 (2024). Sustainability | Climate Impact, Biodiversity & More | Nobody’s Child . [online] www.nobodyschild.com. Available at: https://www.nobodyschild.com/sustainability/planet [Accessed 14 Feb. 2024].
Nobody's Child 5 (2024). International Delivery | Nobody’s Child . [online] www.nobodyschild.com. Available at: https://www.nobodyschild.com/international-delivery [Accessed 15 Feb. 2024].
Nobody's Child 6 (2024). Blue Jersey Cami Top | Nobody’s Child . [online] www.nobodyschild.com. Available at: https://www.nobodyschild.com/blue-jersey-camitop.html?queryID=3e8ba3a3f14f23b426d50e670e631c4a&objectID=57403&indexName=nc2-prod_uk_products_price_default_asc [Accessed 19 Feb. 2024].
Nobody's Child 7 (2024). | Nobody’s Child . [online] www.nobodyschild.com. Available at: https://www.nobodyschild.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=alohas [Accessed 19 Feb. 2024].
Nobody's Child 8 (2024). Latest Women’s Clothing Exclusives | Nobody’s Child | Nobody’s Child . [online] www.nobodyschild.com. Available at: https://www.nobodyschild.com/new-in.html?sortBy=nc2-prod_uk_products_price_default_desc [Accessed 19 Feb. 2024].
Nobody's Child 9 (2024). Black Balloon Sleeve Ria Blouse | Nobody’s Child . [online] www.nobodyschild.com. Available at: https://www.nobodyschild.com/black-balloonsleeve-ria-blouse.html?queryID=0a3f99f4689b0ea7233777403c3f310c&objectID=49886&indexName=nc2-prod_uk_products_price_default_asc [Accessed 19 Feb. 2024].
Nobody's Child 10 (2024). Black Peter Pan Collar Long Sleeve Blouse | Nobody’s Child . [online] www.nobodyschild.com. Available at:
https://www.nobodyschild.com/black-peter-pan-collar-long-sleeve-blouse.html?queryID=0a3f99f4689b0ea7233777403c3f310c&objectID=53073&indexName=nc2prod_uk_products_price_default_asc [Accessed 19 Feb. 2024].
Nobody's Child 11 (2024). Black Short Sleeve Button-Up Shirt | Nobody’s Child . [online] www.nobodyschild.com. Available at: https://www.nobodyschild.com/blackshort-sleeve-button-up-shirt.html?queryID=0a3f99f4689b0ea7233777403c3f310c&objectID=55460&indexName=nc2-prod_uk_products_price_default_asc [Accessed 19 Feb. 2024].
ONS (2023). How life has changed in Leeds: Census 2021 . [online] Office for National Statistics. Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/censusareachanges/E08000035/ [Accessed 15 Feb. 2024].
Similarweb (2024). nobodyschild.com Competitors . [online] similarweb. Available at: https://www.similarweb.com/website/nobodyschild.com/competitors/ [Accessed 21 Feb. 2024].
Wightman-Stone, D. (2023). Nobody’s Child to open three new pop-ups across London . [online] FashionUnited. Available at: https://fashionunited.uk/news/retail/nobody-s-child-to-open-three-new-pop-ups-across-london/2023052269661 [Accessed 15 Feb. 2024].
Wolfe, I. (2020). The 23 Most Ethical and Sustainable Clothing Brands from the UK . [online] Good On You. Available at: https://goodonyou.eco/most-ethical-andsustainable-clothing-brands-from-uk/ [Accessed 16 Feb. 2024].
WWF (2024). Responsible Forest Management . [online] WWF Forest Solutions. Available at: https://forestsolutions.panda.org/solutions/responsible-forestmanagement#:~:text=Responsible%20forest%20management%2C%20motivated%20by [Accessed 15 Feb. 2024].