Solomon Street’s Lauren Crago has teamed up with the minds behind Fil Society, Slowclothes and Huntermade to repurpose her Regent Arcade store as a new slow fashion collective, Kind.

When CityMag last reported on sustainable fashion brand Solomon Street it was to announce founder Lauren Crago had set up shop in Regent Arcade.

A little more than a year later, Lauren has brought three like-minded women entrepreneurs into the space, Kari Vallury founder of Slowclothes, Phoebe Hunter of Huntermade and Erin Scammell of Fil Society.

The store has also undergone a change of name, reflecting the ethos that unites the brands and works as the foundation for the space: Kind.

“We all share the same values and are wanting to build something wonderful together,” Lauren says.

“[We’re] supportive of each other and compassionate and encourage each other in our own business journeys, as well as our cumulative one.”

The bricks-and-mortar store showcases each of the women’s individual brands, while providing a one-stop shop for buyers passionate about sustainable fashion.

“The process that I usually go through, if I’m looking for a piece, is to go to an online retailer of ethical brands,” Lauren says.

“It’s quite a lot of effort, if you’re trying to find something ethically made, you do have to do a lot of research and a lot of Google searching to find what you’re looking for.”

After moving in with her partner earlier this year, Lauren decided to take Solomon Street “back to its roots” and work out of a studio from her new home. She also wanted to maintain a store where customers could touch and try on Solomon Street’s collection.

“So, I thought it was a perfect opportunity to get my friends involved because they’re doing wonderful things as well and really add so much value to the space,” Lauren says.

“The whole place is styled by Erin from Fil Styling – she offers lunchtime styling sessions in the store.”

Fil Styling is part of the umbrella Fil Society business, which includes a biannual magazine and events company.

“Fil is all about empowering other people and making other people feel great with how they dress or having that quiet moment to themselves to read the magazine,” Erin says.

“Fil is the French word for ‘thread’ … so both the textile thread, which makes sense with the personal styling aspect but also the communication aspect. So, a thread online, for example, but also the threads in events, because that’s communicating.”

The Kind store itself only stocks one size per style on the floor.

“Because we’re so proud of how our products are made, and they’re very beautiful, we’ve decided to go for a very minimalist look in the store,” Lauren says.

There are pieces from across the globe courtesy of Slowclothes. Born in 2018, Slowclothes is a curation of sustainable pieces from a range of ethical designers.

Huntermade, on the other hand, aims to connect customers with nature through a collection which includes botanically hand-dyed scarves.

Kind’s launch event will be held in the Regent Arcade store on Friday, 6 December from 6-9pm. There’ll be a grazing table with local produce, a range of non-alcoholic drinks and live music.

The store will also offer 10 per cent off storewide for the duration of the launch.