Brand Values…with Sacha Newall of My Wardobe HQ

I wanted to give people access to incredible items at affordable prices that could constantly be changed without harming the planet.

Story by Sacha Newall

Sacha Newall is the founder of My Wardrobe HQ, a social shopping platform driven by sustainability. This groundbreaking model is fully circular by allowing users to rent and monetise their own pieces. From big name designers including Gucci and Prada to the personal collections of stylish women, it opens the doors of coveted wardrobes and makes them accessible. Here she shares the story behind her platform.

I started My Wardrobe HQ because I had worked in online retail and realised the model was broken. The idea of pre-selecting stock and then selling it to customers seemed so out of date in a digital world.

Every touch point in life influences people’s fashion choices, from friends to celebrities to social media. I wanted to give people access to incredible items at affordable prices that could constantly be changed without harming the planet.

MWHQ was born as a rental and resale platform, initially as a closed user group for celebrities and people working in the fashion industry and now for everyone.

I would like every type of person to enjoy wearing our clothes, that is why we built the company.

When we first started the journey, I had been chatting to the apprentice about it. She made a coffee and said, “I grew up in a children’s home in Liverpool, some of the kids laughed at me for coming to London. I want to drive back in my own car, with a Chanel bag on my arm.” She was one of our very first press loans. We are dressing the ladies at Annabel’s but our aim is to dress everyone.

The vales that are most important to me are honesty, integrity, loyalty and hard work.

Sacha Newall

I measure success by the amount of times I hear people laugh in the day. A happy, confident team can take on any challenge, however demanding, and keep positive.

The person who has been most integral to my career is Tina Lake, co-founder of MWHQ. We would not be here without her. Jane Shepherdson is a constant source of inspiration to us both.

I am hoping travel will be a big part of life later on. I’m ashamed to say I’m not at all well travelled. I worked for 20 years in a corporate job where you take two weeks holiday and now I’m in a start-up.

As for the future of my business, we have a ventures arm and we are planning to service the resale and rental requirements for other fashion brands. The service is not sector specific and our ambition is to facilitate circularity across the retail market.