Why We're Worth It

I know we're not the cheapest option out there. And I want to be honest with you about why, because I think you deserve to know exactly what you're paying for.

Award-Winning and Press-Recognised

In 2025, founder Deborah Breen was awarded the prestigious Athena Award for Women in Business, a recognition given to women who demonstrate excellence, inspire others, and contribute meaningfully to their communities.

In 2021, we were proud to be named a Finalist for the British Fashion Council's Be the Role Model Award, recognising businesses leading the way in diversity, inclusion, and positive change within the fashion industry.

We've also been featured in some brilliant publications, including the Daily Mail, Tatler Magazine, SME News, and Sustainably Kind Living, and we hold a 4.5-star rating on Trustpilot with over 700 verified reviews.

Everything Is Made to Order

Nothing at Designed By Debz sits in a warehouse waiting. When you place an order, we make it. We design, print, cut, sew and hand-make every single item you purchase. This also includes our collaborations and products we have created outside the UK. That means no overproduction, no excess stock, and nothing going to landfill just because a trend moved on. Your piece is made because you wanted it, and that matters to us deeply. Fast fashion produces millions of unsold garments every year. We produce exactly what's needed. Not one piece more.

We're Slow Fashion, On Purpose

Fast fashion is cheap because someone, somewhere, pays the price, whether that's the workers (or children) making it, the environment absorbing it, or the quality that falls apart after three washes. We've chosen a different path. It takes longer. It costs more. But it lasts, and it's made with genuine care. Slow fashion isn't a trend for us. It's the only way we've ever worked.

Slow fashion means thinking about the full lifecycle of a garment: who made it, what it's made from, how long it will last, and what happens to it at the end of its life. Every decision we make is filtered through that lens.

We Pay People Fairly

One of the highest hidden costs in fast fashion is the human one. Garment workers in fast fashion supply chains are frequently paid poverty wages, denied basic rights, and work in unsafe conditions. Some are children. We refuse to be part of that system.

Every person involved in making a Designed By Debz product is paid a fair, living wage. Our UK team are paid above the National Living Wage. Our international partners are vetted to ensure they meet or exceed local living wage standards, not just the legal minimum. We believe that if you can't afford to pay the people making your products fairly, you can't afford to be in business.

When you pay a little more for one of our pieces, part of what you're paying for is the dignity and fair treatment of the person who made it.

Ethical Standards, Not Just Promises

We don't just ask our partners to sign a code of conduct and move on. We choose partners we know personally, whose facilities we trust, and whose values align with ours. Our criteria include:

• Fair, living wages for all workers
• Safe, clean working environments
• No child labour, ever
• Reasonable working hours with no forced overtime
• Workers' rights to organise and raise concerns
• Compliance with all local employment laws as a minimum standard

If a partner can't meet these standards, we don't work with them. It's that simple.

Handmade in the UK and Globally

The vast majority of what we make is handmade right here in the UK, with a small number of pieces made in Latvia or globally by partners we've carefully chosen and trust completely. Every single manufacturing partner is held to high ethical standards: fair wages, safe working conditions, and local workplace laws. We will never work with anyone who doesn't meet that bar.

Premium Fabrics That Last

We use GOTS-certified organic cotton, recycled polyester, nylon and Lycra, and chlorine-resistant swimwear fabric because we want your pieces to genuinely last. A swimsuit that survives at least three summers, rather than one wash. Underwear that stays soft wash after wash. Clothing that earns its place in your wardrobe rather than ending up in a charity shop bag some months later. Better materials cost more. We think they're worth it, and so do our customers.

The Environment Matters to Us

Slow fashion and environmental responsibility go hand in hand. Here's how we try to do better:

• Made to order means zero unsold stock and zero waste from overproduction
• We use organic and recycled fabrics wherever possible to reduce our environmental footprint
• GOTS-certified organic cotton is grown without harmful pesticides, protecting both the land and the farmers who work it
• Recycled Lycra and polyester give new life to materials that would otherwise end up in landfill
• We use minimal, recyclable packaging
• We're constantly reviewing our processes to find ways to do better

We're not perfect, and we won't pretend to be. But we're committed to improving, and we'll always be honest with you about where we are on that journey.

Inclusive Sizing, Always

We size from 3XS to 10XL across most of our range, and we're constantly working to extend that further. Inclusive sizing costs more to produce: more fabric, more pattern grading, more time. But we absorb that cost and do it anyway, because everyone deserves to wear something they love, in a size that actually fits and feels good.

Sensory-Friendly by Design

A lot of our customers have sensory sensitivities, chronic illness, or conditions that make standard clothing uncomfortable. We design with that in mind: no scratchy labels, no harsh elastic, soft organic fabrics, and gentle seams. It's not an afterthought. It's baked into everything we make.

Made With Love, Not Algorithms

I started Designed By Debz because I wanted to make things I couldn't find anywhere else: bold prints, sensory-friendly fabrics, sizes that actually fit real bodies. Every design decision is made by a human (me), not a trend report or a data dashboard. When you buy from us, you're supporting an independent business run by one person who genuinely cares about every single order that goes out the door.

Thank you for choosing us. It means more than you know.

Debz