Hand-knitted fashion label Wool and the Gang has raised $2.8 million (£1.8 million) and is preparing for a global growth of its production network.
The Dalston, East London company has 10 casual knitters in London and a network of home-based laborers in Peru. However, the company wants to extend its London network to at least 50 producers by September as it prepares to test a model for global expansion.
The London network will be used to launch The Gang Collection to be sold through the web site as it focuses more heavily on sales to consumers over the internet rather than its wholesale division. The collection is already for sale with a main launch in September.
Wool and the Gang raise the money from London-based Index Ventures, who have previously invested in Net-a-Porter and also have stakes in London Stock Exchange-listed Asos and privately-owned craft marketplace Etsy, as well as investors Wellington Partners and MMC Ventures.
Canadian-born chief executive Lisa Rodwell arrived earlier this year to assist designers Aurelie Popper and Jade Harwood in the next phase of growth. Rodwell was previously chief revenue and marketing officer at Moo.com where she worked for six years in total and before that at eBay and Yahoo.
The company's aim is to have a global network of knitters producing for shoppers in different territories and to avoid using factory produced designs. The system works by selling the raw materials to the producer and then wholesaling the designs or, increasingly frequently, selling them direct online providing the producer with a chunk of the mark-up.
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