MARIUS STACKHOUSE 

Business/Brand name Public Fibre LTD

Public Fibre is an online marketplace offering a curated selection of the best premium sustainable fashion, sneakers and lifestyle brands for men.

Co-Founder Marius Stackhouse launched the platform in August 2020 after becoming increasingly aware of the negative impact the fashion industry has on the plant. “I loved fashion but felt conscious of the implications it had on the environment. I wanted to use my passion as a force for good and influence people in the right way to make better choices for the planet. He decided to launch the first menswear focused sustainable and ethical products marketplace which would educate and inspire customers to make better purchasing decisions for themselves and the planet too, whilst never compromising on design or aesthetic. A direct-to-consumer marketplace business model, revenue is generated from commissions taken on sales.

Marius started the business with his own savings but needed further finance to support the website development and necessary ongoing marketing costs, so applied for a Start Up Loan in October 2020 and was assigned to Fashion Angel as the only delivery partner specialising in supporting fashion businesses.

Prior to starting the business Marius and his Co-Founder had been working in advertising specialising in digital marketing: SEO, Paid Social, Paid Search and Partnerships with clients, from luxury fashion, sport, alcohol to pharmaceuticals. This gave the business invaluable in-house skills.

To date the platform has attracted nearly 30 sustainable brands to sell on the marketplace, has built over 4K Instagram followers and attracts both UK and international customers.

His journey as an entrepreneur has been a learning curve “Being a marketplace and attracting brands to join when you’re unknown was a challenge and we naturally met some initial hesitancy, however we’ve slowly built trust and we’ve been lucky to onboard some well know sustainable brands to sell on the platform. “

Rising marketing costs have also been an issue and they had to adjust their marketing strategy  when they soon realised they spent too much on Instagram and were hiding behind the brand. “To build trust people want to see who they’re buying from. We spent a lot of time testing and relaunched the website which led to an 40% increase in sales. We’re still very small and we’re taking it slowly. We’ve just been filming video content to make more of Stefan Schröder (Co-Founder) and myself to show people the face behind the brand”.

Marius’s advice for those starting out “Believe in yourself. Be brave and believe in your vision. You might feel foolish but tell everyone, show your face and know that making mistakes is part of the journey and makes your business better. I was too afraid to begin with!”

Marius says “Fashion Angel was the facilitator to give us the boost we needed both financially and in terms of support, to take our business to the next level”.

Marius’s ambition for the future is for Public Fibre to become the number one trusted destination for men’s sustainable fashion.

Follow his journey on www.publicfibre.com Instagram @publicfibre

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