Maggie Marilyn

From the moment I learnt of the devastating environmental and social impact of the fashion industry, I knew I wanted to change it. As a courageous young woman with a vision for a better world, twenty-one year old me set out to create - on paper - what seemed like a relatively simple business: A fashion brand where both people and the planet could thrive. But after several tumultuous seasons selling to global wholesale partners, all the while trying to enforce real change, I quickly realised that my ambitions for Maggie Marilyn were for a business that had never (ever) been built before. From this moment forward, Maggie Marilyn would create its own road map. The brand exited its successful wholesale business and shifted entirely to a direct-to-believer model in 2020; a values-based decision that not only allowed us to be closer to the people we ultimately design for but also solidified our position as a global sustainability powerhouse. No longer hamstrung by the rigorous demands of wholesalers, Maggie Marilyn introduced Somewhere, the brand’s line of evergreen essentials designed to sit within a circular business model and perfectly complement the limited, timeless and seasonless designs of what is now known as Forever. Decisions like these have allowed Maggie Marilyn to truly walk the talk and reduce our carbon footprint by a staggering 73% to become a climate-positive business. And as for the future? Our sights are now set firmly on regeneration - making sure that everything we touch, from the farms that grow our fibres to the people who touch our product, are left better off than when we found them.

One policy change I’d like to see: tax on sale of petrochemical clothes

If I could choose one superpower: art of persuasion, embedding circular economy solutions into industry