Written by Menswear Style in Interviews on the 15th October 2021

Our favourite clothes are more than the things we throw on every morning. Our treasured pieces have stories attached to them, and memories that were made in them. They can elevate our mood, and make us feel the very best version of ourselves. Kair want them to live on and on. Founder Sally Hughes has spent her career working in fashion, and as the industry tackles its sustainability crisis, she was frustrated that no one was talking about the most impactful thing we could do to help: Buy Less, Wear More. It's really that simple. But it's hard, when the fear of damage and fading often means our favourite clothes are left to linger at the bottom of the laundry basket.

And that fear is hardly surprising when the laundry aisles are full of identical, chemical-stuffed detergents that blitz the life out of garments. Our wardrobes deserve better. Kair have reimagined laundry the way it should be. Their products have been formulated to expertly clean the clothes you love, so you can wear them as much as you want, and for as many years as you want to. They’ve elevated the experience with bespoke, premium scents that stay - so you’ll feel great and smell great too.

In a recent episode of the MenswearStyle Podcast we interviewed Sally Hughes, Founder of Kair about the founding story of her luxury laundry brand which she started after learning about fabric care to help her clothes last longer and to be kinder to the environment. With her new clothing wash products, she wants to encourage people to buy less and get more wear out of their wardrobes. Our host Peter Brooker and Sally talked about laundry fear, fabric care, seeking investors, developing fragrance, stand out sustainable brands, and packaging design.

“I'm Sally and I've spent nearly my entire career in the fashion industry, and I guess that's what led me to start Kair last year. It was through that time in the industry, but more than anything, my time as a consumer, where I learned about the impact that a great outfit can have on your confidence and on your mood. Kair is here to help you fall in love with your clothes over and over again. During my career in fashion, I was often wearing garments that were advised as dryclean only and it was really time consuming, and expensive to clean them. They came back smelling of chemicals that were used in the process. So, I started to learn about fabric care and realised that many of the fabrics and the garments that were labelled as dryclean only could actually be washed. The fear of ruining something isn’t quite as high if you spend half your disposable income on it. I was washing my clothes with gentle specialist detergents that were not easy to find. And so really, that was when Kair was born.”

“I felt that brands were talking more and more about sustainability. We spent a lot of time actually developing the scent to elevate the experience. When you open the washing machine drum after you've washed with Kair, you get this gentle explosion of scent. Due to the pandemic, we had to test the scents remotely which took time, but we eventually narrowed it down 8 fragrances that we thought were goers and we wanted to make sure that the ones that we chose were the most popular and the most appealing. We literally had to send samples out to the best part of 100 people individually to get their feedback which certainly made the logistics of developing the product with our community much more difficult.”

This is a shortened transcribed edit of episode 134 of the MenswearStyle Podcast with Sally Hughes, Founder of kair.care. You can listen to the full version below or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favourite podcast player.

We discuss Premium Laundry Detergent, Garment Care, and Laundry Fragrance with Sally Hughes from Kair.