15/12/2021
Donald Stanley clothing is coming to an end. I’ve written this so many times. This has been the toughest decision I’ve ever had to make. A decision in which I’ve had sleepless nights over. I’ve been constantly weighing everything up but what I always come back to is, ‘I just can’t do this anymore’. I need some time to breathe, to gather my thoughts and start again. My passion for design and fashion still exists and always will but trying to sustain and grow a slow fashion business has many hurdles. The last two years have been HARD. I’ve been faced with so many challenges. DS grew fast and with growth comes so many things. Good things, bad things, ups and downs. I’ve been let down by some, lifted by others, had moments of ‘we’ve smashed it’ and moments of, ‘how on earth are we going to get through this?’ - sometimes within the same week! There was a period when I thought we’d survived the pandemic but I soon realised the worst was yet to come. We’ve really suffered. I’m physically and mentally drained, I don’t feel I have much left in me. I really need to take a step back and admit defeat. Some friends have told me not to see this as failure. I don’t see this as failure. This is a result of two main factors, 1. The pandemic and 2. We live in a world that does not support sustainable businesses. As an entrepreneur, I have many creative ideas for the future but for now, it’s farewell to fashion. Donald Stanley is named after my dear dad. The ethos behind what we do is a piece of my heart. Breaking this news to my team has riddled me with guilt but I know I had to make this decision for me. I’m still learning how to take care of myself and I suppose this is the first real step towards that. Please don’t panic about orders/gift cards. We’ll be sharing lots of updates & information. No one will lose out on anything. Donald Stanley clothing is no more but we’re still honouring orders until 28th Dec. Thank you for reading this and for your incredible support thus far. Shoutout to my team for being so kind to me about this. My heart is a little broken but I’m very grateful for this experience. As one door closes, another opens right? 💚