SQUISHO, a Manchester based couple passionate about producing products that are as sustainable, eco-friendly and ethical as possible. SQUISHO is the brand with a heart, creating eco-friendly products while supporting well-deserved charities.

There’s been a boom of small businesses launching in lockdown, with more people discovering new or retired passions, motivated to create their own business. Whether it be out of boredom or being out of work, it’s fantastic seeing new independents pop up including SQUISHO.

We chatted to the couple about how the brand materialised, their inspirations, the importance of sustainability and supporting small businesses…

How have you guys kept busy in lockdown?

SQUISHO was created during lockdown 2 and we launched 21st December 2020. After both being made redundant in March 2020 and being on furlough during the second lockdown (after thankfully finding new roles), we had a lot more spare time.

SQUISHO keeps us busy during lockdown. Every day we are working on new designs, altering the website, packing orders, creating social media content etc.

What inspired the materialisation of Squisho?

During lockdown, we found ourselves on social media more and watching video blogs, where we saw people with their own merchandise and online stores which inspired us to create our own brand. It was something fun for us to do and work towards. Eventually, random hand drawn digital doodles of dogs and cats eventually turned into embroidered designs.

We’re dog enthusiasts and all-round animal lovers, hence why most of our current products are animal inspired with 5% purchases from either collection going to charity. Bryony’s family dog Albert was a huge inspiration – hence the Albert collection – he was rescued over 10 years ago, which is why supporting charities and rescue centres is so important to us.

Why is sustainability important for you guys?

We made our products sustainable and eco-friendly as we feel like we have to play our part in looking after the planet. It also gives us a chance to educate others and how they can make small changes. The clothing industry is huge and with fast fashion, we believe it is important for people to start considering where their products are coming from and what they’re made of. Not only to reduce their environmental impact but to improve the quality of life of those that produce our clothes.

SQUISHO is the brand with a heart. With everything we create we keep people and the environment in mind. We heavily research our suppliers and choose them based on their ethics. All products are designed by us in-house. Our high-quality hoodies and t-shirts are vegan approved by PETA and ethical approved by the Fair Ware Foundation. They’re made of 100% GOTS certified organic cotton and recycled polyester. Our greeting cards are unique, digitally hand drawn and are made of 100% recycled fibres.

We’re also eco-conscious about our packaging and minimising waste. We’re using recycled materials, staying away from plastic and making better choices for the environment. We’re not perfect and there are still many areas of improvement that we will work on for the future. We believe it’s important that we all do our part to help our planet and we’ve definitely made some steps in the right direction!

If you could encourage everyone to shop local/small businesses what would you say?

Shopping via local or small businesses is so important, even more so during the pandemic than ever. Every time you place an order someone does a little happy dance – or like us high fives each other – and is genuinely so excited to package up your items and get them on their way to you. So much love, time and effort goes into every step of the process and it is a lot more personal.

We have so many things in the works and ideas for the future. We’re looking to launch a kids range next month. We’re also looking to expand on our current adult collections and greeting cards. All while continuing to support well-deserved charities.

Visit their Facebook and their Instagram and show them some love!