The Entrepreneurs

South Africa native Judy Sanderson initially had a career selling consumer goods for US multinational Procter & Gamble. But after deciding to pursue her dream of designing clothes, she founded her namesake fashion label in Porto 2019. The brand draws inspiration from Africa and manufactures clothes using the sustainable techniques of a network of Portugal-based producers.

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Inspired by California’s active, coastal lifestyle, Joe Kudla launched athletic clothing brand Vuori in 2015, aiming to blend the principles of ethical manufacturing, sustainability, community and quality. Here the CEO and founder shares the ups and downs of his career so far and tells us how Vuori secured major investment and a multibillion-dollar valuation by pushing the boundaries of activewear.

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A collective of independent businesses in Cardiff has breathed new life into a retail format that many claim has had its day: the strip mall. Monocle’s Tomos Lewis explains the success of the Clearwater Parade collective.

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Leah D’Ambrosio founded small-line knitwear brand Wol Hide in Philadelphia in 2016. She discusses the benefits of keeping her company small, growing it incrementally and countering the fashion industry’s more environmentally intensive production practices.

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Monocle’s April issue features a fabulous retail survey, which celebrates some of the hottest shopping strips around the world and explores how they are bouncing back. This special edition of Eureka features a perfect case-study of real-world retail excellence: Erewhon, the innovative grocery shop that is now a fixture in the Los Angeles landscape.

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Urban-mobility innovators are operating in an increasingly crowded and competitive marketplace. So how do the best e-bike brands, particularly newer independents, ensure they make their mark? Meet the co-founder of one of the best in the particular business: Ardo Kaurit, CEO of Estonian e-bike brand Ampler. Despite coming from a country with no bicycle-manufacturing heritage, Kaurit and his team have quietly put their e-bikes on the map. But how do you grow a business while keeping a sense of fun and freedom at the heart of the enterprise?

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Children’s clothing label Bebe Organic was founded in 2014 by Birgit Kadak, a graduate of the London College of Fashion. Kadak spent her early years in the fashion industry working in luxury womenswear but after her first child was diagnosed with a sensitive skin condition, she began to research the best natural and organic fabrics for her son. This prompted her to create a sustainable and stylish collection aimed at the younger end of the market. Inspired by countryside living in her native Estonia, her timeless designs have won over clients from Japan to the US. Today, Kadak oversees production of her clothing in Portugal.

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The brand was founded in Amsterdam in 2020 with the goal of creating a truly sustainable running shoe entirely of natural materials. The resulting product, which is one of the few vegan-approved sports shoes on the market, is suitable for novices and experienced runners alike. Co-founder Dominic Sinnott and head of brand Nina Ziywetz tell Monocle’s Tomos Lewis about the journey.

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Inspired by the climate of California, Rebecca Grenell founded her womenswear brand Lacausa in 2013. Manufactured at small, family-owned factories in Los Angeles, Lacausa’s range of thoughtful, ethically made clothing has become a staple in wardrobes around the world.

The modern, linear manufacturing that is typical of much fashion and textile production can be hugely wasteful and damaging to the environment. While the sector has been wising up, it’s not happening fast enough. We meet two entrepreneurs who explain how innovations in technology and a revolution in aftercare can ensure that fashion and textile production needn’t cost the earth. Beth Esponnette is the head of Unspun, a robotics and digital clothing company that builds custom jeans on demand for every individual consumer. Its mission is to reduce those grim global carbon-emissions figures through automated, localised and intentional manufacturing. Vanessa Jacobs is the co-founder of the world’s first aftercare platform for fashion, a business that helps the world’s biggest brands offer care, repair and restoration to their customers.

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