Lucy & Yak - what has happened?

[Marsis]

I’ve followed the brand for a while but not actually purchased, trying to work out what has happened with their instagram and the ‘fan groups’ on FB?

If all these people were concerned with the environment etc surely they would buy 2nd hand from the charity shop. All these clothing brands exist to make a profit and are making more waste and using more energy by producing even more clothing that people don't need. Makes no sense to me.

There’s a bit of emperor’s new clothes about it I think, especially with some of the ethical toy types, £250 pikler Triangle etc.

Why do all the mad fandoms revolve around clothing with wacky prints? I have heard of L&Y but didn't know they did prints, I hadn't heard of the leggings brand, I know of Popsy and I'm guessing the bra brand is Molke. It all seems very weird.

Molke was truly the most uncomfortable garment I've ever worn, and I backed slowly out of the FB group. I was almost lynched for saying I couldn't get them comfortable. Plus I got weird emails about dancing singing pixies after I placed my order. Great that they work for so many women, but def not for me.

Why do all the mad fandoms revolve around clothing with wacky prints?
They are fun to wear and make a statement.

I don't like the L&Y printed fabrics - it feels strange when I touch it.
The woven ones are nice but the stripy ones just a bit too Andy Pandy for me.

I'm put off by the fandom, I just wear them because I like the style and like dungarees anyway.

Bloody hell, purity spiral dungarees now. Have we reached peak 2020?

I swear to god, the day I find an online community that isn’t fizzing with forced groupthink, purity spirals and toxic garbage fires will be the day I have to give up on the Internet because I don’t recognise it anymore.

It’s SO WEIRD.

@Marsis

There’s a bit of emperor’s new clothes about it I think, especially with some of the ethical toy types, £250 pikler Triangle etc.

YES!

£200 for what is basically a wooden step ladder.

Just let your kid climb on the furniture like a normal person ffs.

And the Grimms stuff. Yes, obviously it looks gorgeous on a nursery shelf, but offer a normal toddler something from their range or a shiny, noisy plastic thing from Fisher Price etc and there’s no prizes for guessing what they’d go for.

@IndecentFeminist

She=Popsy?

Yes that’s the one I was thinking of. Weird madness every week when new dresses ‘drop ‘ and people falling over themselves to get ‘her’ - 3 days later reselling then .......it all starts again. Strange. Plus as @fridgepants says when you actually look - the quality of the fabric isn’t that good.

I have one person I know on Instagram who is very very cross at Harkel for never giving her a refund fridgepants. And that’s the sum total of my knowledge.

(What’s funny is that I know her from a Tatty Devine FB group )

@msgloria

As I've said previously, I know many of the people in these groups are genuinely struggling. Even when knowing that however, I find the cognitive dissonance quite hard to swallow. You've got all these people championing their ethical, organic clothing choices but then buying way more than they need and taking part in group orders for stuff to be shipped to them from shops overseas.

Yes! This leaves me feeling really weird. The fact they love the brand for being ethical or whatever but then spend huge amounts of money on 'stashes' they don't need.

Part of the problem with L&Y is the way they've grown beyond anything they expected or planned. They started out making dungarees from end of line fabrics (not their own prints) and they were "limited edition" just because they had X amount of fabric in a print and that was it... Then later on they wanted to work with artists to create their own prints, and again, as a small business had X amount of fabric printed and that was it. When I first discovered L&Y, the limited editions prints were available for weeks and many of their items were reduced in the sale section at the end of each season too; they've only grown this huge following during 2020 really with everything selling out within minutes/hours. I really don't think they ever imagined these items would become so popular that someone would pay £200 on eBay for second hand dungarees that originally cost £40.

@Marsis

There’s a bit of emperor’s new clothes about it I think, especially with some of the ethical toy types, £250 pikler Triangle etc.

Some of them are bonkers I agree, there’s only so many weird looking peg people you really need but some are great, the pickler triangle is probably the most used thing in my house.

I did an order from Harkel earlier in the year, the clothes were actually okay quality for the price (although I was sceptical when I ordered), and the returns process was fine. Also a bit surprised that they don't have a following, the quirky prints etc seem comparable to some of the other brands that do!