#116: Redefining the Basics: Sally McLaren on Building A Sustainable Clothing Brand
From Women's Business by Nicky Denson-Elliott
May 31, 2026 · 1h 1m · Season 1 · Episode 116
About this episode
Sally McLaren discusses her journey in building Ivy, a sustainable clothing brand, and her experiences in the fashion industry.
My guest this week is Sally McLaren, founder of Ivy - a women’s essentials brand made with certified organic cotton. In this conversation Sally traces her early exposure to her parents’ family publishing business, her passion for textiles, and a fashion design/buying degree that led to 12 years as a clothing buyer at Boden, George, F&F at Tesco, and Sweaty Betty, where she learned product development, manufacturing, and the ethical and quality compromises driven by margin pressure. After redundancy and motherhood, she discovered flaws in 50 of her own T‑shirts and launched Ivy in December 2017 with six tees, self-funded by redundancy money and savings, initially fulfilling orders from home while raising two small children. She describes learning marketing, SEO, and e-commerce by doing, using Instagram, gifting to influencers and stylists, building high repeat purchase through product quality and personal customer relationships, choosing Portugal production over higher-margin options, and aiming to make getting dressed simpler through great essentials and community. We also talk growth, future plans, and the virtues of running a lifestyle business. Find Sally and Ivy on…
People in this episode
Host: Nicky Denson-Elliott
Guest: Sally McLaren
Topics covered
- sustainable fashion
- entrepreneurship
- women's essentials
- ethical manufacturing
- marketing strategies
- lifestyle business
Keywords
- sustainable clothing
- organic cotton
- fashion design
- e-commerce
- marketing
- product development
- women's business
Sponsors
Ivy
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Ivy, Boden, George, F&F at Tesco, Sweaty Betty, Instagram
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