Last week we caught up with Danielle, a member of Manchester Girl who founded KIHT during the pandemic, bringing sustainability to the fitness industry.

Thanks for taking the time to chat with us, Danielle. Tell us about yourself!

Hi, thanks so much for having me! Oooo where do I start….I’m Danielle, I love all things food, fitness and life in general, I’m also a dog mama to a little whippet named Marvin (he features heavily on my IG). I’m a designer and spent 10 years in the industry before going it alone and launching my brand KIHT Collective. I’m a total optimist, always overly enthusiastic and probably have a bit too much energy, lol! I’m an extroverted introvert, so I love being around people, laughing too loudly but also love time on my own reading a good book, for me the key to happiness is balance.

Why did you decide to create KIHT Collective?

I started KIHT because I felt that the industry needed to change and I wasn’t seeing that happen. I had been a part of building the fast fashion model for some of the biggest online brands and was starting to see the negative impact it was having on the industry, women, and the planet.

It was a lightbulb moment for me, I saw a really clear path of how I could help make a difference to women everywhere and the industry. It married together my passions (outside of work) my knowledge and skill set.

From there it just snowballed, I left my job and started working on KIHT full time.

Which 5 KIHT products are you the most excited about at the moment?

Obviously I want to say all of them! But right now I am loving wearing the jungle khaki sets as they are just so easy to wear and I love the colour! I also love mixing and matching the different colour combinations with them too, so I might wear the shona pink lemonade crop with jungle khaki leggings or the snake print Olivia crop. The weather has been so hit and miss, so I am still LIVING in my Rhiannon hoodies. (I have all three colours) I wear them so much, (literally everyday) All 3 colours look so good with the jungle khaki colour and give me a different vibe. I layer them up over my gymwear, throw on a coat if it’s cold and I’m good to go, it’s effortless day to gym style, or comfy WFH vibes.

What are the 3 main things to look for in the ethical and sustainable fashion world?

Great question! I’d say in my experience:

1. Being Ethical and Sustainable can mean different things to different people, so I’d look for brands who are working to be as transparent as possible in what they do. Check out the ‘about’ pages on brands as this should give you more info about what being ‘sustainable’ means to that brand. If they are transparent it should be super easy to understand, ie. no corporate jargon!

We try to be as transparent as possible, we are far from perfect, but we are honest about where we are in our sustainability journey and where we want to get to.

2.Where are they manufacturing from? For us, we deliberately avoided producing out of China having spent years visiting factories and seeing first hand the huge disparity.

If they are producing out of China, what initiatives are they part of to ensure good working conditions, fair pay, are the workers housed in accommodation on site 1000’s miles away from their families? If so, do they get holidays? We also avoided China production because of the environmental costs, it takes 3 months by sea to get product to the UK or by air which is far shorter but even more polluting.

We manufacture out of Portugal to keep our footprint lower.

3. What other things are they doing? What other areas of the business are they working to be Ethical and Sustainable? For us, we have tried to implement sustainability as much as possible across the whole business, right down to the paper we use (recycled) and the energy supplier we’ve chosen! Another great one is seeing if they work with any charities, or local initiatives, some great ones are tree planting initiatives or 1% for the Planet. I’ve seen other great businesses who give back locally to their community.

In summary, it’s about looking for businesses that are purpose driven, not profits driven and a little digging will always uncover that!

What's new for KIHT Collective in 2021?

We’ve got some super exciting things coming that I’m literally bursting to talk about!!! We’ve got new styles and colours coming through over the next few months, I’ve channeled everything I’ve learnt since launch into them and I think our Collective is going to LOVE them! As always they will sit back with the entire range and everything will mix and match, one of our core values! (as wearing your clothes is the most sustainable thing you can do!).

I’ve also got another project I’m working on to really up our sustainability game. I can’t quite share yet as it's early days, but as a business it’s something I’m already super proud of!

We will also be hosting some events over the coming months too, we’ve not done one in soooo long and I cannot wait to bring people together.

Our ‘Ready, Sweat, Grow’ events are the reason we used ‘Collective’ as part of our name. Our events are designed to bring people together to connect, have fun, get sweaty (we always include some type of movement as it’s great for getting you feeling great and breaking down barriers) and grow (it’s super important to me that we help to share expert knowledge to our community, whether it’s a nutritionist, mindset coach, meditation expert, knowledge is power).

You've been a Manchester Girl for years now. How has the community helped you?

I think one of the most important things in life is connection and I think the last year has only strengthened my belief in this. I absolutely love connecting with people, from my own friends and family, to people I’ve never met before. Being part of a community is such a great way to be able to easily connect with people you’ve never met before and form new friendships/ networks. I think right now, community is more important than ever.

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Written By Charlotte Moyle

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