Garmst

How do you prep for a pitch? Last Thursday, thanks to Caner Veli at Kind Community, we had the opportunity to pitch in front of a room full of investors, founders, and generally impact-driven people passionate about changing the world for the better. I've had the 'pleasure' of leading most pitches throughout our journey. It definitely gets easier, but it never becomes truly easy. This time, we thought it was the perfect opportunity for Gabby to get a taste of those butterflies. So we spent the day practicing, reading lines, repeating sections, and even listening to my voice on repeat during a run around the heath (my personal favourite tactic!). Gabby joined me on stage, and even though I could see her hands shaking (not enough of the delicious Toast Brewing in my opinion) she delivered a clear and passionate pitch, sharing all the progress we’ve been making at Garmst. Proud brother, proud co-founder. What are your tips for delivering an engaging pitch? Huge kudos to the other founders pitching: Aldwyn Boscawen, Nathalie Ballout, Gavin Taylor, Milo Pinckney, Catherine Bedford, Keir Carnie, Charlie Rudkin-Wilson, Sue, Rob and Alex.

I’m still buzzing from the energy and inspiration that filled the room at Kind Convention on Thursday! A massive thank you to all the amazing founders, investors, and changemakers who came together to collaborate, share ideas, and ignite new opportunities. I’m so proud to see such a strong community of purpose-driven innovators coming together, ready to make lasting change in the world. The enthusiasm for shaping a better tomorrow is what Kind Community is all about. Main thing is keeping this momentum going! I look forward to seeing how these ideas and partnerships blossom, and I can’t wait to support more founders in creating purposeful, profitable businesses. Proud of our Purposeful Profits cohort who pitched: Morale App Eight Movement Garmst Dot & Lola PLC (Planet Loving Company) Rollr The Stratford Sustainability Hub @CARI Nuud | Plastic Free Gum Müll Club Special thanks to our main sponsor Ooodles Grateful for all our amazing exhibitors. Iris Solar Technology Qualus @limitless @DNA Hormonal health Clipper Automotive @moonji garment by Sküma® Water In Good Company Good Sense Huggnote @useful studio The amazing Change Please for hosting us 🙌🏽 All the amazing work from the KIND team on making everything run smoothly! For those looking to amplify their impact you should visit and join www.kind.community #KindConvention #SustainableGrowth #PurposefulProfits #KindCommunity #ImpactDriven

I pitched Garmst from inside a wardrobe… Last Thursday, I pitched Garmst at a StudioThree investment showcase. As a founder, being able to pitch your business is one of the most crucial skills, whether you’re selling your product to a customer or a piece of your company to a potential investor. Every pitch forces you to refine your proposition for maximum impact. The biggest mistake founders make is trying to say too much. Your goal shouldn’t be to convince an investor to write a cheque on the spot (if you can, please share your magic!). The goal should be to spark enough interest that they want to learn more. So how did we spark interest? We rearranged some furniture and pitched from the heart of the Garmst business: the male wardrobe. We demonstrated our deep understanding of our customers' challenges and why we're the best team to execute the Garmst solution. Was it perfect? No. Will we continue to refine and improve it? Absolutely! Shoutout to the other founders who pitched: Ruaraidh Grubb, Diana S., Layla Sargent, Julia Baldet, Yasmin Topia - Keep smashing it.

💫 StudioThree September Showcase Cohort Reveal! 🌟 We had six phenomenal founders pitch to over 50 early-stage investors at our fourth StudioThree showcase today. Here are the visionary companies leading the way Yasmin Topia at Sociate AI : Building Sociate AI, a proprietary AI developed over 3 years. It enables customers to describe their shopping needs conversationally and share visual inspirations for product recommendations and styling advice. Ruaraidh Grubb at OWN-KIND: Their platform acts as a content and data layer for customer engagement, enhancing clienteling and dramatically increasing sales conversion, AOV, and retention, with ROIs of up to 80X. Diana S. at SKINDAYS: Skindays is the leading healthy ageing platform, offering a curated selection of over 60 expert-led skin health brands. They combine top products, personalised skin analysis, and expert advice, focusing on long-term skin health. Jack Zuliani at Garmst: Tackling men's overconsumption, Garmst helps men find clothes they love and will wear repeatedly. They offer comfortable fits, eco-conscious brands, and personalised style, creating a more sustainable wardrobe. Layla Sargent at The Seam: The UK’s fastest-growing clothing repair service. The Seam uses smart technology to match local demand with skilled makers (seamstresses, cobblers, tailors). This supports local communities and reduces the carbon footprint with affordable services. Julia Baldet at Elevate: On a mission to help consumers feel and live their best selves. Elevate offers functional beverages developed by a nutritionist—protein shakes, smoothies, cold-pressed juices, and adaptogenic beverages—taking a holistic approach to health and wellness. These founders are innovating to increase sales, enhance customer experiences, meet sustainability goals, and launch incredible new products. They are actively raising now and ready for partnerships!

Borrowing is the door to a cleaner society. Rental, borrow and old fashioned hire - is it the way to plug a hole in a problem or actually solving the problem? We've launched at Neem London Neem Borrow. We make no apology for our prices - we trace product to farm, we run full life cycle assessments and we use a blend of recycled cotton that feels (due to a study on construction and finish) better than conventional cotton. However, some find our prices inflated, I wish our margins were, as we compete with some bad boys doing bad things, so we want to open the door to more. We've launched Neem Borrow with Zoa Rental to allow more to be open and clean in Neem. Try before you buy - borrow if you will - then buy! Also running with the rather upward and exciting Garmst. If we want to show there is an alternative to cotton and virgin polyester shackets ( who even invented that ghastly word?!) and fabrics with elastane and merino that has mostly acrylic in - we have to offer new ways of selling. Modern Open for all Circular https://lnkd.in/eRdx8BbA

It's not every day you get to see a catwalk in a football stadium... As the 'data guy,' I don't tend to frequent many London Fashion Week events. They're glitzy, glamorous, and to be completely honest, I haven't perfected my 'blue steel' look enough to quite fit in. But when Garmst was invited to watch one at the Emirates Stadium, it did tempt me. Not only because football is one of the main interests of the Garmst Man or that I've been following Labrum London journey for a while now - the brand with the slogan 'Designed By An Immigrant' - but it's just not very often you get VIP front-row seats on a sunny day in a Premier League football stadium. The majority of entrepreneurship is hard, lonely, exhausting, and emotional. You feel the need to fill every minute of the day with productivity and self-improvement. But when I look back on this time in my life, I want to remember the opportunities I grasped, the eccentric, passionate people I met, and the sights I saw. So please enjoy my best 'blue steel' pose, standing in the same place as a well-known face also getting his fill of LFW. Thanks for having us.

Where’s the Ralph Lauren gone? There have been a lot of customer improvements on the Garmst platform. Visibility, flexibility, transparency. All those lovely buzzwords that make the UX much slicker than it was before. But one of the big questions we are getting from customers since the relaunch is: ‘Why can’t we get the brands everyone knows anymore?’ As part of the Garmst relaunch we took a long hard think about what we want the platform to be, why we want it to exist and what value we want to add into the world. Being a marketplace we actually have 2 sets of customers, the ones that demand and the ones that supply. Well this post is focused on the latter, the supply. We are in a pretty crap macro-economic climate (to put it lightly), most people have less money to spend. When we buy clothes, it is very easy to look at a picture on a screen and assume that a £40 overshirt from Uniqlo and £149 one from Neem London (One of our amazing brand partners) will both do the same job. WRONG. It needs us to take a closer look at the Neem shirt in question (Link in comments): The material is Regenerative Organic cotton which is fully traceable. The label, thread and fusing is fully recycled; right down to the mother of pearl buttons. Not to mention the brand values that come with it: trade-in schemes, the NeemSayer community and pre-order options to reduce overproduction. So please take a moment to think before you panic buy a Uniqlo 40 quid number and think what could be a more positive investment. And this is why we have changed our model, we believe that we can use the Garmst ‘Test-drive’ to extend these purchasing decisions to give you a more informed view of what a brand, founder, product is all about. One that leads to a garment that is more durable, fits better and gives you the confidence to be your best self. Yes, it might take some time and various communication tests to articulate this change to our customers BUT I am loving building a community of brands, with an aligned mission to reduce the clothing industries footprint on our planet. We have a dedicated partner page (Link in comments) where you can click through each of them to hear the brand and founder stories behind the product. P.S you can test drive this particular shirt from £18… And once its got the pub test seal of approval, just pay the difference to keep it.

The countdown is on.... Two months ago, we made the bold decision to hit pause and completely relaunch the Garmst platform. Our self-imposed deadline of August 7th is rapidly approaching, and we can't wait to share what we've been working on. Key Lessons from Garmst 1.0: Positioning is key: Men want to look great without the ‘rental’ label. Scalability matters: We've partnered with industry leaders to handle growth seamlessly. Data-driven decisions: We're using rental data to fuel smart stock choices and dynamic pricing. Sustainable commercials from the start: We've built a business model which disproves common concerns. What to Expect from Garmst 2.0: Style made simple: Free, personalised styling tools to boost your confidence. Flexible options: More rental and purchase choices to fit your needs. Full transparency: See our entire inventory before you decide. Mission-aligned brands: We're partnering with brands that share our values. So what's next?: Growth: We're aiming for 20% monthly growth while keeping retention high (Check out Gabby Zuliani’s recent post for more details on our strategy.) Customer-centric: User feedback shapes our feature roadmap. Brand partnerships: We're building strong relationships with brands that align with our mission. Want to be part of the journey? Sign up for our free styling resources or monthly email updates to stay in the loop!