WoW Women in Fashion | Eileen Willett and Nancy Zeffman, co-founders of Cucumber Clothing
Eileen Willett and Nancy Zeffman are the co-founders of Cucumber Clothing - a brand that offers luxury, cooling, sustainable, clothing and nightwear for women.
Nancy’s background in advertising (Saatchi’s) and Eileen’s background in fashion (Nicole Farhi) was the perfect breeding ground to develop an innovative fashion tech line with fabrics at their core. They founded Cucumber Clothing in 2017 with a mission to make the clothes they could never find to keep going 24/7.
Cucumber makes clothes that perform and help support busy women’s lives. Cucumber uses fabrics that feel amazing: breathable, anti-crush, stay fresh, and made for longevity. Everything is designed, sampled, manufactured, graded, and warehoused within a five-mile radius in London. Packaging is sourced in England, using 100% compostable/biodegradable vegetable storage bags, recycled/recyclable postal sacks, and packing/swing tags made from recycled office waste. Royal Mail is used for deliveries to avoid putting more vehicles on the road. Everything is easy-care, spot or machine washable, hang dry, no iron, reducing the use of water, energy, and fewer carbon emissions in a garment’s lifetime.
Nancy, Eileen, how did you get into this industry? Has it been an easy industry to get into or have you had many challenges?
Things are often seen simpler when seen from the outside in, and running a fashion tech sustainable e-commerce brand is no different. The honest truth is we had no idea how many challenges we would face since we had no conception of what they would be. We have had to tackle this one by one and it has been a steep and fascinating learning curve.
How long did it take you to be where you are now? What was the biggest obstacle? What are the challenges of being in the industry you are in?
We launched in September 2017, after having spent almost two years researching the market. Challenges for a small start-up have always been many and the combination of Brexit and the pandemic have made life for entrepreneurs shakier than ever – and has proven the biggest obstacle on our journey. As an e-commerce brand conflicting government advice, new and crippling expensive border regulations, as well as a constantly changing consumer landscape, have made life more than a little interesting to negotiate!
What are your biggest achievements to date?
A sustainable multi-functional everyday luxury brand, we have been featured widely in the media, including most national daily papers, magazines such as Elle, Grazia, Woman and Home, BBC London Radio, ITV’s Lorraine Show, Dragon’s Den and many other publications, online blogs and interviews – almost all of these organically.
We have become sought after speakers on topics such as female entrepreneurship and mid-life pivots.
We were invited to be part of Cambridge University’s Institute of Sustainable Leadership’s Accelerator programme and ReLondon’s Validate Your Model programme.
We built on our founding principle of always supporting women-led social enterprises (previously supporting Breast Cancer Haven and The Eve Appeal) and consolidated this with a formal relationship with WIT CIC who support marginalised women get back to work.
Co-founder Nancy Zeffman became one of the f:Entrepreneur #ialso 100, celebrating the top female entrepreneurs in the UK.
Co-founder Eileen Willett was shortlisted for the Asian Women of Achievement’s Award.
What are the projects you are currently working on?
We are currently challenging ourselves to increase our circularity. Having signed up to #racetozero with the aim to become completely carbon neutral by 2030 or before, this is something we take very seriously. We are very excited to have launched our Loan-to-Own and pRELOVED models. Loan-to-Own allows our customers to ‘try before they buy, essentially renting and wearing pieces for up to two months before deciding whether keep the garment. Any returned pieces will be placed in our pRELOVED collection to be sold at a discount. We have already had a fantastic amount of press around this initiative. We are also trialing a made-to-order model for new collections. Watch this space!
Is the #WomenInTech movement important to you and if yes, why?
Absolutely! It is quite apparent that certain industries remain heavily weighted in terms of one gender or another. Tech is most definitely one of them and we hope that we can be part of the movement to help redress the balance.
What will be the key trends in your industry in the next five years and where do you see them heading?
Everyone knows retail is changing, and changing incredibly rapidly. Who would have expected online would become such an important part of retail in such a short time? The fact that M&S has now started offering same-day delivery for online purchases and that Harrods has created an in-store rental area shows you how fast things are moving. We believe that in the next five years those companies that can consistently offer excellent and reactive service, transparency and commitment to sustainability and circularity, brilliant online customer interface, and a flexible and ambitious attitude towards embracing the new will be the winners.
What is the most important piece of advice you could give to anyone who wants to start a career in this industry?
Research, validate, do it!
Who are three inspirational women in your respective industry you admire?
Sara Blakely – Founder of Spanx
Polina Veksler and Alex Waldman – Founders of Universal Standard
Miki Agrawal – Founder of Thinx
Find out more about Cucumber Clothing on their website.
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This interview was conducted by Marija Butkovic, Digital Marketing and PR strategist, founder, and CEO of Women of Wearables. She regularly writes and speaks on topics of wearable tech, fashion tech, IoT, entrepreneurship, and diversity. Follow Marija on Twitter @MarijaButkovic and read her stories for Forbes here.