OMO: An Emerging Sustainable Brand Founded by a St Andrews Student

 By Maya Zealey 

Milly in OMO top

At the beginning of 2021, St Andrews art history student Milly Henderson was exploring her place in the fashion industry. Passionate about the art of fashion but uncompromising in her values, she decided to create her own ethical brand, OMO. Inspired by the capsule wardrobe philosophy, she released her first collection of quality, sustainably-made T-shirts designed to make outfit repeating a pleasure.

Concerned by the rise of fast fashion and throwaway culture, she created unisex basics that are supposed to be worn lots and loved for long. While she is planning on putting out some exciting new collections later in the year, she made it clear that she would never release random products that couldn't form part of a capsule wardrobe.

The brand isn’t just slow and thoughtful; Milly has made a real effort to embed sustainability into its every aspect. Her T-shirts are made of 100% GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard)-certified cotton, and she has partnered with SeaTrees to plant a mangrove tree with every order. Her process sounds painstaking; she laughed while telling me about her arduous search to find neck labels with the right ethical credentials.

Though OMO is still a young brand, exciting things are happening to it. Milly’s currently in the process of seeking out artists to collaborate with her on upcoming clothing, and, later this year, OMO will have a pop-up shop on Oxford Street in London. But with every new win for OMO, Milly is only ramping up the social orientation of her brand. All the profits from her new line of clothing (including items she sells at her London pop-up shop) will be donated to Global’s Make Some Noise, which supports small charities and helps disadvantaged people across the UK.

OMO Basics Collections

Overall, I was personally so impressed with OMO. Milly has been meticulous about making her brand a force for good. Shopping at OMO means supporting a small, local, sustainable business, and her competition to collaborate with artists also means you're supporting independent creators, while her charitable donations extend OMO's positive impact across the UK.

We highly encourage all readers to follow OMO on Instagram and check out their website. Furthermore, if any young artists are interested in collaborating with the brand, you can email milly@omodesign.co.uk for more information. The deadline for submissions is the first of March, so there’s still time to get involved!

Related article — Capsule wardrobes: university style