Bibby Financial Services provides £500k funding for UK fashion label
London-based fashion brand, WÅVEN, has its sights on significant growth in 2017 following a £500k export finance agreement with global funder, Bibby Financial Services.
Based from a Kensington studio, the fashion label creates denim wear inspired by Scandinavian design and stylistic simplicity. Established in 2014, WÅVEN now has a turnover of £2m.
Having found traction with a niche in the denim market and already selling widely throughout Europe and North America, WÅVEN is set to continue its global success in 2017.
The business’s popularity has already resonated with major fashion retailers such as Topman, Urban Outfitters and ASOS, each of which have stocked WÅVEN products.
The business is now set-to expand further, including launching new seasonal lines and selling into new overseas markets. The business has turned to global funder, BFS to provide ongoing working capital funding to support the business’s growth ambitions.
There has been a staunch demand for UK design in the global fashion industry and recent commitments by the Department of International Trade (DIT) aims to pair British designers with high profile buyers in overseas markets. This followed the DIT’s sponsorship of London Fashion Week, which took place in February this year.
Anika Islam, managing director, WÅVEN explains:
“Having come from a family that has worked with denim fabrics for over 30 years, it was natural for me to start my own clothing brand. WÅVEN is on an exciting journey in the fashion industry and has been gaining worldwide recognition since it was founded in 2014.
“In order to take the business to the next level, we needed working capital funding to enable us to develop new seasonal lines and to expand our reach into overseas markets.
“Bibby Financial Services were able to provide both flexibility and certainty of payment, which is a huge advantage to a growing business like ours.”
Matt Alis, business development manager at Bibby Financial Services commented:
“WÅVEN is at the forefront of innovative UK fashion, underpinned by its success with major retailers. There was a gap in the market for affordable speciality denim wear and WÅVEN has been able to capitalise on the opportunity.
“In order to structure a funding facility for Anika and her team, we first needed to understand the business, its customer base and trade cycles. Combined with our 35 years’ experience of funding growing businesses, this understanding enabled us to find a solution to grow with the business’s current and future finance requirements.
“We look forward to seeing this fantastic business go from strength-to-strength.”
