Hope Fashion is asking fans to donate £100 or more to stop it collapsing | Fashion

Nayna McIntosh believed she spotted a gap in the market when she launched online retailer Hope Fashion in 2015: producing stylish, relaxed clothes for women in their 50s and over.

After decades working at some of the UK’s biggest clothing retailers, McIntosh – who is now 60 – felt older women were being ignored by major brands, despite often having more disposable income.

“I wanted to unashamedly target a woman over 50 who is aware of the changes her body is going through and design products accordingly,” says McIntosh. These products available on the website include pleated skirts and jewel-toned wrap tops.

Despite growing its customer base by more than 160% year-on-year in 2022, and with hopes of surpassing that in 2024, the retailer has struggled to secure substantial investment.

Two investors who have previously backed the business abruptly pulled out of the latest fundraising effort in early January.

Now Hope Fashion has taken the unusual step of calling on its 20,000 customers to open their wallets for a reason other than adding to their wardrobe: McIntosh is asking them to donate £100 or more to save business from immediate collapse.

McIntosh – who was part of the team that launched fashion label George at Asda with George Davies in the 1990s and helped launch the Per Una range at Marks & Spencer – regularly engages with her customers through Q&As or styling sessions at social networks. the media.

It says this has resulted in an “incredibly loyal customer base” and this appears to be backed up by the company’s average score of 4.8 stars on consumer review website Trustpilot, with the vast majority of reviewers (89%) giving the brand the best five. – star rating.

In an email sent to customers on Monday, McIntosh calls on them to become “Saviors of Hope” and allow the brand to continue to operate.

“Where do you go when you’re down and need help?” McIntosh asks in the email, adding, “What if the people who love Hope were prepared to save her.”

McIntosh is asking her customers and followers of the brand to donate £100, £250 or more to help them raise £250,000.

The money will be used to buy new products – which are designed by Hope in Berkshire and made in Italy – for the brand’s spring/summer and autumn/winter collections, as well as to boost marketing.

In return, those who donate will be entered into a prize draw with a chance to win a £1,000 voucher and a styling session with McIntosh.

She believes the fundraising will sustain the company and its staff until early 2024, when she hopes the economic outlook will have improved and “markets will be more open”.

If the company is unable to meet its target by midnight on February 7, customers will be told “it’s over” and their donations will be returned.

McIntosh is holding a series of virtual chats with customers to discuss donating to the business, which she describes as “a huge demand”.

Veteran retailer Stuart Rose, the former chief executive of Marks & Spencer, was one of McIntosh’s first investors and she describes him as a constant “supporter” of the business.

However, in the past it has struggled to attract funding from mostly male investors.

“This is a brand for women, by women, supported by women. I think a lot of male investors don’t understand that,” says McIntosh.

“As a woman, I have a 2% chance of being successful in fundraising. As a person of color, that drops to 0.2%.

Crowdfunding has come in for criticism before after some business fundraisers have left investors disappointed – even out of pocket.

However, McIntosh insists she is “only talking to the converted,” her customers, and is not offering any equity in the company during the crowdfunding.

“These are people who are very engaged with us,” she says. “I’m not trying to sell a really good idea to someone who has absolutely zero interest in women and over-50 clothing.”