Retribe Clothing; an upcycling movement.

Hi! We are Lauren and Ben, Retribe Clothing is our sustainable company that only produces from waste, right here in our Sheffield factory.

We have been Designers, and Product Developers in the outdoor sector for a combined time of twenty-five years. Designing products with the customer's end use in mind. For the past few years, we have watched as landfill sites fill up with clothing and textiles around the World.

In August 2023 we went salvaging after Creamfields festival for the first time. We were shocked to see the sea of tents left behind, over 80% of people left their tents that year. We went there on a mission to clear up but came back with a problem to solve.

After years of industry experience working for large outdoor companies, we understand the magnitude of waste the outdoor industry can cause. For example, each tent has at least 10 metres of fabric, multiple guide ropes, webbing and zips not to mention the plastic fixings and parts.

At Creamfields, tents were being abandoned with the smallest of issues, meaning they would end up in landfill. We knew that we could put that material to better use.

We managed to salvage fifty tents and thirty sleeping bags, limited by the size of our Ford estate car. We started to design products based on the materials we salvaged and within two months had products tested and sampled. We were then ready to move into a factory with a small workforce.

The mission is simple: Prevent outdoor products from going to landfills, upcycle and repurpose them into something useful. Give them a new lease of life.

Our first product for Retribe Clothing was the Circular Bottle Holder, unique but simple and solved a problem. It utilises every aspect of the tent.

The Circular Bottle holder was the first of many designs. The range consists of tote bags, sling bags, lunch bags and clothing. Our product is for the customer who loves the outdoors and our planet as much as we do. We want to foster a community and encourage them to enjoy the outdoors, whether that be climbing, swimming or hiking.

We want to educate people on recycling and the state of our landfill sites home and away, and finally we want to inspire people to upcycle their preloved items.

REPAIR - REPURPOSE & REUSE.

The UK alone creates 300,000 tonnes of textile waste each year, Following a ban on textile incineration from the European Union which began in January 2024 there is a need for a new circular recycling channel.

Retribe Clothing aims to be the number one sustainable channel for outdoor product waste.

In our lifetime we aim to prevent 100,000 tents from landfill, and as each tent has approximately 10 metres of fabric that could be up to 1 million metres of fabric saved from landfill! In six months we are up to 130 tents, with new channels from brands opening up for more waste.

All our products are made to order, in our factory in Sheffield by one of our amazingly, talented team. And everything will be made from salvaged tent material. We aim to use zero waste pattern cutting and even our factory scraps are shredded and used for padding!

Our product is unique and purposeful, from reusable tent totes to bottle carriers for when you are hiking or running. Crafted and British-made, long-lasting with thoughtful design for both the customer and the planet.

In the factory, we promote an ethical working environment, where staff are paid a real living wage, given the option of flexible hours and machines are tested regularly.

What your funding will support:

1- We have a small studio in the centre of Sheffield, where we store all our salvaged product and upcycle all of our "new" products.

2- We have an amazing team - one full time person, and several part time staff. We all have the same mission to reduce the landfill that is caused by outdoor products and repurpose them into something new.

3- Our events. We have events planned through Spring and Summer, and this is how we are launching the brand. Your funding will send us on the road with our new start up company, getting us known all over England and afar!

4- More salvaging! The more products we can sell the more tents we can salvage. We have plans to take full teams to salvage after Leeds festival and Creamfields festival. By the end of this year we hope to be at the 500 tents salvaged mark- YOU could get us there.

We are so passionate about this cause, but we really do need your help to keep going.

If you would like to leave your email with your donation we will add you to our mailing list and everyone who donates over £30 will be contacted to be sent a Retribe gift as a huge thank you for supporting our movement.

We do believe that we are paving the way for a more sustainable future, where companies do not have to produce new materials, we can all use what we already have in abundance.

Thank you so much for taking the time out to read our page!

Lauren & Ben