
It’s not enough for fashion to be cool these days. It needs to have serious sustainable credentials too. In fact it’s probably not cool without them. One reason why Saint and Sofia, a London-based fashion company is growing at pace.
Saint and Sofia, the London based brand, is looking to build a new type of fashion brand, one that cares equally about the sustainability and fairness of its products as much as their fashion credentials. The company has been featured in Stylist, Harpers Bazaar, Elle, The Times, Daily Mail, the Financial Times and How to Spend It Magazine.
But what’s equally important is the sustainable fabrics they’re using. Seeking out only natural and recyclable fabrics, they use among others, organic cotton for cotton products, and Tencel which is made from wood pulp. Sustainability is central to the whole business ethic. The company minimise transportation distance to reduce their impact on the environment. They also partner with the London based Charity Trees for Cities to further offset their carbon footprint by planting trees, as well as the Natural History Museum in London to support research into conservation work.
Source: https://saintandsofia.com/pages/blooming
The company have also put a lot of effort into creating a smart supply chain, to make sure the clothes can be offered at a fair price. Consequently, the company has been inspiring conscious shoppers since its inception in 2020.
Ecommerce experts at the helm
As well as cool clothes and a strong sustainable ethic they have bright business minds driving their growth. The owners and founders; Malcom and Dessislava Bell, have impressive business pedigrees and know ecommerce inside out. Malcolm is Guest Expert in residence at Harvard Business School and a previous Entrepreneur of the year nominee. Dessisalva has been one of Ernst & Young’s Winning Women and Management Today’s 30 under 30. She previously worked as an investment banker at JP Morgan. They are both best known for starting Zaggora, the activewear brand that they grew to $60 million in sales from 1,5 million customers. Saint and Sofia is a passion project for the two of them. The enterprising duo believe that quality fashion has become too expensive and too many brands are wasteful in their production and packaging.
Omnipack share their passion and has been loving working with them on their journey as they spearhead growth into Europe.
Cross-border delivery expertise to fulfil the German market
Saint and Sofia operates in three key markets; USA, UK and Europe, where it currently focuses on Germany. Before Brexit the brand fulfilled all its European orders from its fulfilment centres in the UK. But with the changes necessitated by Brexit, they had to find a logistics partner in the European Union. The aim was to be well positioned for fulfilment in the German market and to find a partner who could live up to the claim of taking responsibility for the planet throughout the entire value cycle. As a company sharing similar environmental values, Omnipack was an ideal partner.
We try to reduce our carbon footprint as much as we can - not only in production, but also in the transportation of the garments. In Omnipack, we've found a fulfilment partner that can fully deliver on this and has the cross-border delivery expertise to meet the challenges of Brexit and the Coronavirus pandemic.
Dessislava Bell
Founder & COO
Omnipack provide Saint and Sofia with same day fulfilment, picking, packing and shipping orders on the same day they come in to us. We also offer a sophisticated returns process, which means all clothes are properly inspected, steamed until they’re pristine and returned to stock within a specified time frame.
Source: https://saintandsofia.com/pages/sustainability
Enabling expansion into Germany
Saint and Sofia is now able to offer next day delivery to Germany, thanks to Omnipack. We have stock conveniently located in our 6 500 sqm fulfilment centre in Gorzów Wielkopolski, next to the Polish-German border.
Germany is the current focus for the brand – it has a website in the native German language plus a stationary store in Berlin - but we are happy to help Saint and Sofia with fulfilment to over 30 countries throughout Europe with an average delivery time of just 3-4 days.
Through our extensive experience in full-stack fulfilment, we help customers provide end consumers with the most seamless, enjoyable, fast and rewarding online shopping experience possible. As a service provider that shares the same values in terms of environmental awareness and customer focus, we accept the exciting task of contributing to the expansion of Saint and Sofia's business volume in Germany and other continental European countries.
Tomek Kasperski
Founder & CEO of Omnipack
Same-day, sustainable delivery and service
Thanks to conveniently located fulfilment centers throughout the USA, Europe and UK, Saint and Sofia can promise fast, efficient delivery, usually same-day. All delivery services are fully tracked and traceable so customers know where their eagerly awaited new clothes are. All packaging for Saint and Sofia purchases is either biodegradable or recyclable and uses minimal dyes to reduce environmental impact. All orders are packed safely and securely in either a recycled cardboard box or a recycled paper mailing bag. Each package is secured with a strong, eco-friendly adhesive. In a final, stylish flourish, Omnipack’s fulfillment team add a Lookbook Saint and Sofia latest styles to each order.
We knew very well how we wanted our products to be packaged, how we wanted them to be delivered to the end customer, how returns needed to be handled, and how quickly we needed to be able to respond to customers and process things. We're very happy that Omnipack provides these services and works out exactly how it's best for us and our customers.
Dessislava Bell
Founder & COO of Saint and Sofia
What’s next?
Saint and Sofia is not stopping at Germany. They plan to open a dedicated online store for each EU market. France is next on the list. Then it’s the Netherlands, Spain and Italy. These four eshops will be opened in the next six months. Omnipack is proud to be supporting the logistics in serving all these additional countries. Stylish, sustainable fashion is going places – and with our cross-border delivery expertise, everyone can enjoy the ride.