// Jane Shepherdson appointed chairman of My Wardrobe HQ
// New appointment marks Shepherdson’s return to corporate retail after departing Whistles in 2016
Former Topshop executive Jane Shepherdson returns to retail with chairman spot at clothing rental start-up My Wardrobe HQ.
Having worked as a fashion executive at Topshop and then on as part-owner and chief executive of Whistles, this will be Shepherdson’s first corporate retail role since leaving the latter in 2016.
READ MORE: Former Topshop director says “everyone knows” Sir Philip Green was a bully
Speaking to the Financial Times, Shepherdson said her time away from the industry and travels in the US had spurred on her interest in alternative business models and environmental issues.
“I’ve seen so many documentaries about how fast fashion is killing the planet . . . I’ve visited a lot of supposedly sustainable brands. But a lot of them are not really sustainable. They’re just adding to the pile,” Shepherdson told the Financial Times.
Founded by former Monsoon buyer Tina Lake and marketing executive Sacha Newell, My Wardrobe HQ acts as an interface between owners and renters via a peer-to-peer model, but also cleans, stores and ships the loaned garments.
Shepherdson told the Financial Times she became involved in the company after Newall spotted her name on a list of people who had registered interest in the company’s services.
“I had been working on something similar . . . but I quickly realised that Sacha and Tina had got a lot further down the line and created these amazing logistics.”
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