113 Steven Bethell: systemic solutions to the crisis of stuff

Guest bio

As co-founder of the Bank and Vogue family of companies, Steven Bethell has been a thought leader and pioneer in the post-consumer textile space for over 20 years. He has dedicated his work life to innovative and relevant solutions to the crisis of stuff. Steven and his team have traveled to over 30 countries working extensively amongst the robust second-hand markets of the world.

Steven is also the brainchild behind the largest remanufacturing plant in the world, where the circular economy for textiles is brought to life. Taking post-consumer waste and transforming it into relevant products, Steven works with big brands to help them bring their sustainability platforms to the next level.

In his spare time Steven lives off the grid in the Canadian wilderness. He is an avid woodsman: fishing, paddling and learning about the outdoors and its many wonders.

Beyond Retro is the largest vintage retailer in the UK and the Nordics. Since launching in 2002 Beyond Retro has remained a trailblazer, earning a reputation as the go-to destination for fashion-forward originals. Offering the largest selection of handpicked vintage clothing to style-conscious shoppers, each 15 show-stopping stores and the online shop is a dazzling celebration of style through the decades.

In a world of throwaway fashion, Beyond Retro provides customers with on-trend items without the carbon footprint. Through the cycle of vintage and second-hand products, Beyond Retro consistently seeks out innovative avenues to make a lasting impact on the fashion landscape, contributing to a much-needed circular economy. 

Working in what the industry calls “rag-houses” around the world, a network of trained treasure hunters scale literal mountains of secondhand clothes to find the vintage diamonds that match our trends. Our pickers look at colour, size, fit, quality, and label to meet our buyers’ needs and it is no easy task with only 1 in a 1000 making the cut!

Once we have handpicked thousands of items and saved them hitting landfill or the shredder, we ship these items to our warehouses in London and Sweden.

We’re not just vintage nerds; we’re data nerds too. Specially developed software tracks the crucial fashion stats of each unique item that arrives at our East London HQ: trend, decade, size, style, and source, among others.

We process multiple shipping containers per week, where our product experts examine each box for quality control before hanging items for pricing. All this TLC gets us closer to retail success, and you closer to awesome vintage pieces that are truly relevant today!

Beyond Retro has 6 UK stores – Dalston, Westfield, Argyll St (Soho), Bristol, Brighton, Coal Drops Yard Kings Cross (Soon to be opening in Cardiff in Summer 2023)