Founder: Theo El-Kattan / Enterprise: Known Source / Discipline: Fashion / Location: London

More about their enterprise:

University friends Henry and Theo were playing football one night in 2019 when they got to scheming about something unrelated to sports. Both experienced thrifters, they envisioned a new type of fashion resale startup. Soon after, they quit their jobs to launch Known Source.

Second hand fashion is frequently mistaken as a holistic sustainable consumption when in fact, over 80% of donated clothes still end up in polluting landfills (EPA).
While second hand consumption saves clothes from landfills once, they must stay in circulation to avoid polluting our planet. With the aim to overcome this issue, Known Source are on a mission to create a positive social outcome by transforming the commonly linear second hand market into a more sustainable circular solution.

Known Source’s vision is to bring second hand to the forefront of culture. In doing so, we can effectively overcome the environmental and social abuse of the fashion industry and tackle fashion’s massive waste problem for a positive social outcome. It is also disrupting business models employed by existing marketplaces and creating a model that is more equitable for their community of suppliers/small businesses hosted on the Known Source platform.

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Hanan
Tantush

Founder, Intotum Adaptive Fashion

“For me, it was a day spent catching up with fellow founders and feeling really hopeful for the trajectory of this year. Thank you for the wonderful session and so great to see how business is going for all the amazing cohort.”

Jameisha
Prescod

Founder, You Look Okay To Me

“My mentor’s approach with focusing on the wellbeing aspects of my life have significantly changed my perspective as a founder. It’s helped me tackle my unrealistic expectations of my energy levels.”

Sabella
Ibanez

Co-founder, Pivot

“It was so invaluable hearing everyone else’s journey and experiences. I can feel really lonely sometime, even if you are in a team.”

Nahum
McLean

Founder, ADDA

“My mentor helped me with the ‘WHY ADDA’? This was really helpful in establishing relationships with schools, as it helped them to see how it would benefit their students and institutions.”

Akua
Danso

Co-founder, Black Females in Architecture

“Our mentor’s insight has been amazing and it’s getting us to think about strategy differently.”

Skanda
Sabbagh

Founder, Everybody’s Climbing Tree

“The clarity MeWe has given is big. The business plan influenced our work. Lots of our services were informal and it helped give it structure.”

Banseka
Kayembe

Founder, Naked Politics

“My mentor taught me the importance of incremental thinking to get the foundations right. I grew enormously during this period.”

Anon

Founder

“That was my favourite session from any programme, ever”

Pete
Barr

Co-founder, Enayball

“Our Mentor linked us up with 2 people who have licensed another product of ours. [This was] the  biggest thing to happen to our company and product and an incredible opportunity.”

Ameenah
Begum

Founder, Planet Friendly Paint

“I grew the confidence to approach past connections and make progress with a new lead from a corporate retailer to have a steadier supply.”

Ryan Mario
Yasin

Founder, Petit Pli

“She’s a perfect fit! Understood the company  and needs very well. Thank you  for finding my mentor.”

Anthony
Daulphin

Founder, Standing Ovation Project

“The business support has been amazing from the MeWe team and led me to contact sponsors that I would not have  normally. The check-ins were great and I felt like I was very much valued by the MeWe team and still do, which is lovely.”

Jem
Collins

Founder, Journo Resources

“I do feel more resilient and a better leader coming out of these 12 months. I’ve been able to navigate tricky situations like ending a work contract with more confidence and have more belief in myself.”

Alvin
Owusu

Co-founder, TAG Agency

“The past year has been transformational for us. We set targets now, we are building a ratecard too and we know what our base fees must be and rarely go underneath them. We have a clearer plan for how both Tum and I get to full time.”

Alisha
Morris

Founder, The Bitten Peach

“It was really beneficial to encounter other founders from outside our ‘bubble’. It helped for big picture thinking and a reminder of how to engage with those who don’t know about us or the type of work we do.”

Ola
Christian

Founder, Levile

“The incredible team has been very responsive, supporting us at the drop of a hat. The opportunity to learn from esteemed professionals was both beneficial and positively challenging.”

Bethany
Williams

Founder, Bethany Williams London

“I’ve really benefited from the mentoring. After every session we’ve been able to unlock a new way of thinking about something.”

Ndubuisi
Uchea

Founder, Word on the Curb

“The advice, introductions and links provided through the MeWe programme and network have been  instrumental in the development of our business.”

Aaminah
Patel

Co-founder, Forward Culture

“Meeting like-minded people and seeing that our struggles are universal despite our different  businesses really gave me confidence.”

David
Newell

Founder, Newell Bespoke

“With MeWe you are literally skipping over months, or even years, of trial and error. I’m light years ahead of where I used to be.”

Vivienne
Isebor

Founder, ADHD Babes

“A solid reminder of the Nigerian saying, ‘body no be firewood.’ Thank you MeWe for creating such a nurturing space for us.”

Moira
Sinclair

NED. Trustee. Coach. Consultant. Speaker. Chair, Factory International. Former CEO of PHF

“One of the things that has been really fascinating about watching MeWe’s journey has been the complete focus from the very beginning on talent and on the particular need of individuals, and why the world as it was currently constituted really wasn’t getting to grips with that…”

Hilary Carty

Hilary
Carty

Director, Clore Leadership Programme

“MeWe acts as a connecting force for individuals and small organisations who may well get there on their own, but certainly MeWe speeds up the process. It accelerates the learnings and the connections.”