WHERE’S NEXT FOR LUXURY?
In-person and digital tickets
for Walpole members and
non-members available now
Monday 29th April
at The Londoner
Buy tickets here
Walpole Editorial

Elvis & Kresse: "Why We Don’t Like Black Friday"

"It is an honour to run a business that works like this, that is a Certified Social Enterprise and one of the first B Corps in the UK. So you can imagine how we feel, when November rolls around and people start talking about Black Friday" says Kresse Wesling, co-founder of sustainable and ethical luxury brand Elvis & Kresse - a Walpole Brand of Tomorrow in 2012. Read on for Kresse's six reasons as to why her brand will never participate in Black Friday or any other discount days.
24th Nov 2020
Walpole Editorial  Elvis & Kresse: "Why We Don’t Like Black Friday"
I fell in love with Duraline hoses the moment I saw them, in 2005, piled up on a rooftop at a fire station in Croydon, awaiting an imminent and undignified death in landfill. 

Fire hoses are decommissioned for one of two reasons, they either reach the 25-year end of their health and safety life or they are too damaged to repair. They either miraculously survive 25 years of active service, or they die trying. 

We weren’t entrepreneurs in search of an idea, we didn’t set out to make luxury accessories. We simply wanted to save the hose. We couldn’t let these rich, durable, life-saving, lustrous coils of deep red nitrile rubber go. 

Elvis learned to sew. We started with a simple range of belts and grew slowly from there. We have rescued all of London’s decommissioned hoses since 2005, and have donated 50% of the profits to the Fire Fighters Charity. So these hoses are still working hard, long after their first life. Imagine that, hoses that were supposed to die in landfill have instead helped injured firefighters; they have funded more than 6000 exercise therapy sessions, 1500 hydrotherapy sessions, 1200 physio sessions, 1200 psychological support sessions, and 300 days of the Services Access Line.

It is an honour to run a business that works like this, that is a Certified Social Enterprise and one of the first B Corps in the UK. So you can imagine how we feel, when November rolls around and people start talking about Black Friday. 

To put it very simply, we don't like Black Friday. And because we don’t like it, we have never participated in any discount day or sales season.

Let me explain...

1 - Elvis & Kresse is not a fast moving consumer goods brand. We aren't fast at all. We are slow. Our materials are rescued and their transformation takes time. We build to last, not for obsolescence.

2 - We believe in good value every day, not just for a few days each year. Our pricing is based on labour, creativity and innovation; we have a highly skilled team and our prices reflect the costs of running a pioneering ethical and sustainable business, which is more interested in impact than profit.

3 - We don't do seasons. We don't have different pieces for different times of the year, and we certainly aren't interested in the weekly collections or even 'daily-drops' being released across the fashion industry. Seasons or other forms of entrenched 'refreshing' naturally result in over-production and waste. 

      Our wash bags photograph well in the snow, but they aren't just for Christmas.

4 - We produce in small batches and when these are sold we make more. We don't overproduce without knowing what works. This means we don't end up with dead-stock that we could only sell at a discount. In 15 years we have never had dead-stock. 

5 - Concentrating such a frenzy around a few random days of the year like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, China's 'Singles Day', Boxing Day, or any other seasonal sales days would be unsustainable for our small team. We have a happy team. There is no need to inject this kind of stress. Equally, there is no need to induce anxiety in potential customers that might lead to panic buying or purchases without thought and feeling. 

6 - Elvis & Kresse are different by design. Always have been, always will be. The world, as it is, isn't good enough. If we want it to change, we have to behave differently. We have to hold ourselves to a higher standard. We can't simply lament, we have to act.

www.elvisandkresse.com

Related Articles

Lauren Dickinson Clarke curates our latest Walpole Weekend Wind-Down playlist
Walpole Weekender
28th Mar 2024
Lauren Dickinson Clarke curates our latest Walpole Weekend Wind-Down playlist
Every month, we ask a different Walpole member or partner organisation to put together a playlist to help you transition into weekend mode after yet another high-stress week at work. For April, scented candle and home accessories brand Lauren Dickinson Clarke has shared a playlist tranquility and enlightenment to the end of your week
David Kendall on being part of the LGBTQ+ community in the luxury sector
Inclusive Luxury
28th Mar 2024
David Kendall on being part of the LGBTQ+ community in the luxury sector
Inclusive Luxury is our content series dedicated to celebrating the work of Walpole member executives in the LGBTQ+ community. In our latest interview, we speak to David Kendall, Marketing and Communications Director at storied interior architecture firm, David Collins Studio
Walpole's Anna Maude shares her Out of Office essentials
Out of Office
22nd Mar 2024
Walpole's Anna Maude shares her Out of Office essentials
In our Out of Office interview series, we speak to Walpole member and partner executives at the top of their game about how they live their lives away from their desks – the habits that help them decompress, the activities that re-centre their minds, and the little luxuries that they can't live without. This week, we talk dog walks, dirty martinis and phone drawers with Walpole's Executive Assistant & Head of Programme, Anna Maude