I love discovering new brands and when Sophie and Anna at House Of Raglan contacted me on Instagram towards the end of last year I immediately loved everything about their brand and ethos.
In today’s blog post I’m introducing you to House Of Raglan, their gorgeous range and giving you some background on the work they do and charities they support.
1. Tell us a bit about House of Raglan…
We are both big believers in trying to live life to the fullest and in the most positive way possible.
We wanted to create a brand that promotes positivity whilst getting people to talk about their own wellbeing; both mentally and physically. It’s no secret that Anna has struggled with depression, but has found a way to deal with her demons through her love of the great outdoors. As a result we created a brand to help others in similar situations.
The name House of Raglan took days, if not weeks, to come up with! Whilst on honeymoon travelling we were lucky enough to explore some of the most incredible places on this planet…one of these was a small hippy town on the North Island of New Zealand called Raglan. We loved the feel of the place and the positive outlook on life people had there. We wanted to bring a little bit of that positivity and lifestyle back with us.
While we were away we had time to source ethical clothing and talk to printers about the best way to go about this. We’re lucky to be surrounded by some very talented and creative entrepreneurs (who are also our friends) who helped us massively getting started, giving us continued motivation and knowledge we- as teachers- didn’t have about the big, bad, business world!! Big shout out to George and Megan at The Ohlo Group and Harry Thory (a very talented graphic designer).
2. You’re very committed to promoting a message of self love, equality and sustainability – when did this passion start/where was it born from?
As much as possible we like to live ethically and sustainably; we think it is important to care about both people and the planet- if we don’t look after it we literally cannot survive. The clothes we use at House of Raglan are ethically made and one range we use (The Earth Positive range) only uses sustainable energy to create the products.
As a married couple, in the LGBTQ community we have faced discrimination in many forms…we firmly believe everybody is born equal and should be treated that way- when it comes to race, sexuality and beliefs. The Self Love Club is one of our biggest ranges; people really connect with this message. The Self Love Club is so important because if you can’t love yourself…who can you love?!
We think it is vital for your own mental health to start the love at home; don't forget to praise yourself the way that you praise others. We all have so much to offer this world, we just want others to believe in themselves!
· Sophie & Anna - Founders, House Of Raglan
3. Tell us about the House of Raglan range – who is it aimed at, how do you hope it will help others?
The collections House of Raglan currently offer promote self love, equality and positive mental health. They are aimed at anyone who needs a bit of reassurance that they are enough.
A percentage of our profits goes to YoungMinds UK, a brilliant youth mental health charity. As teachers we have seen first hand the effects of poor mental health in schools; with little or no help available. We hope that raising awareness and giving as much as possible back will help change this.
One of our tshirts is #starttheconversation; the idea behind this is to increase people talking about mental health and to take away the stigma behind the subject. Any one and everyone should be able to talk to someone about how they’re feeling- this tshirt promotes that message.
One of the main aims of House of Raglan is to help those that need it- we’ve been in the position where we’ve needed help and we’re now fortunate enough to start helping others.
So come join the journey and welcome to the Self Love Club.
See the full range here.