Plutobury was born whilst watching a television programme about an inspiring young man. He was buying t-shirts, adding his own designs and then selling these on. He was doing rather well out of it too. Now, this wasn’t a moment of realisation as such but more of a motivation to gain confidence in putting together my own dreams and ambitions. “It can’t be that hard,” I thought……... How wrong was I!!!!
The idea of owning a clothing brand initially started several years ago during my employment for a high street clothing store. The problem was, I didn’t know how to manufacture, how to create a website or how I would ever afford to even start a brand. I saw the barriers and they certainly halted me!
Several years after my initial thoughts, I started planning. I’d seen how t-shirts can be bought in bulk, modified and then re-sold. “Perhaps this is my way in,” I thought…
I spent the next several months planning and developing the brand, deciding what I wanted it to be about, what I wanted it to be called, and what I wanted my clothing to be like. At first, I researched ready-made clothing as I thought this would enable me to get my brand out easily. I was adamant that my clothing was to be high quality but nothing I sampled was good enough. I certainly learnt that there is no easy way if you want a job done properly!
At this point I’d lost my confidence again. I knew I would never be happy selling ready-made clothing so my only choice was to manufacture from scratch. I didn’t know where to start! I was really disheartened so I stopped working on the brand. I really couldn’t see a way forward.
A few months went by and a chance encounter gave me a boost. I was visiting my parents when a neighbour came over to me and asked how I was. I mentioned how I’d been looking into starting a clothing brand and that I was at a dead end with it. When I explained my only option was to manufacture my own clothing he said, “well, that sounds like a good idea, go for it.” It’s strange how the littlest bit of encouragement can give someone motivation to try again. That evening I searched for and emailed dozens of UK factories, suppliers and consultancies asking if they can help.
Most of my emails went unanswered, but from those that replied, I received a positive response! This was it…. It’s do-able…. It’s on!!
From then on, I was over the biggest hurdle. I’d found great suppliers, knowledgeable contacts and most importantly, got my confidence back! I still encountered many challenges, and still do today, but now I have a brand I can be proud of. Manufacturing all our clothing from scratch enables us to produce our clothing to our exact standards and design.
So…. Two years later from when I initially started, and after flipping my initial idea on its head, the brand finally made it! Phew!