Ldny launches new work wear collection “Dress to Invest” to support female entrepreneurs on Seedrs
In a world where 47% of the workforce is female, yet women earn approximately 18% less than their male counterparts, Ldny is proud to launch the “Dress to Invest” collection, aimed at empowering working women and helping fund female entrepreneurs.
The collection aims to address gender inequality in the workplace with a range of clothes that empower confidence in women and help them to know their worth. 10% of the profits from the collection will be invested into a female entrepreneur’s campaign on Seedrs every month.
Seedrs is the most active equity crowdfunding platform in the UK having funded more than 400 deals to date. More than £160 million has been invested through the platform, and many successfully funded businesses have been spearheaded by inspirational female founders.
The first Seedrs business to benefit through the “Dress to Invest” collection is Looks. Looks is a new FashionTech platform where users live chat with professional stylists to receive expert advice and get personalised responses.
Recently released figures show that if every woman who wanted to start a business did, then it could release a possible £10.1 billion boost to the UK economy. Yet at present only 10% of venture funding goes to female-led businesses, clearly highlighting the inequality when it comes to the gender funding pay gap.
To bring attention to the inequality in these figures, Ldny has created the collection in collaboration with Fashion Enter, a not-for-profit initiative and London-based factory and academy committed to supporting the fashion industry from the ground up.
The “Dress to Invest” collection was showcased last month at the “Role Models” fashion show which featured a host of inspirational, empowered and influential women, which included leading businesswoman Kelly Hoppen MBE, co-founder of the Women’s Equality Party, Sophie Walker, Sky News “Sunrise” anchor, Sarah-Jane Mee, co-founder of MADE.com, Chloe Macintosh, junior doctor and MP, Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, deputy director of the Britain Stronger In Europe campaign, Lucy Thomas, FGM activist, Nimco Ali, Sky News pundit, Michelle Dewberry, chef, Lady Weymouth, CNBC Meets’ Tania Bryer, comedian and political pundit Ayesha Hazarika MBE, and many more.
Jenny Holloway, Director of Fashion Enter, says:
“As a British based factory, it has been special for us as we are working with Ldny on their “Dress to Invest” collection. It’s time for this country to fully support the makers of the nation.”
Karen Kerrigan, Chief Legal Officer at Seedrs, comments:
“Seedrs is delighted to be working alongside Ldny to promote female entrepreneurship. As champions of ambitious startups, we think it vital to keep empowering female founders, as well as women with an interest in investing in growth-focused businesses.”
Ldny has a “Demand & Supply” model as opposed to the usual Fast Fashion “Supply & Demand” economy, collections are crowdsourced and if a minimum number of people back a design then that style is manufactured.
The collection will be available on Ldny.com from November 23, in conjunction with a special opening Bell Ringing Ceremony at The London Stock Exchange. This follows Equal Pay Day, held on November 10 this year, meaning that women are effectively working for free from then until the end of the year due to the gender pay gap.
