Sustainability might be a hot topic at the moment, but it’s one we’ve always felt has particular relevance for the WOLFF the Label audience.
As consumers, we care more than average about clothes. We know and we care about quality. We deliberately buy things that we think will last better. Sometimes, we even purposefully support a particular craft or industry.
But on the other hand, we buy more clothes than most. When storing excess clothes is a regular topic of discussion, we can’t be the most frugal or focused on consumers. So how do we fare from a sustainability point of view? And more importantly, what should we be doing better?
Below we did an interview with Pilar Rubio aka @whitewolf.rubio_, a Spanish lady, (22 y/o) who recently graduated from BA Creative Direction for Fashion at London College of Fashion. Rubio is the owner of WOLFF the label (@wolffthelabel), a bespoke, made to order clothing brand that she recently launched and been working on for over a year.
Her aim is to provide a luxury streetwear line of products, following a sustainable and ethical process. Rubio manages everything from the designs and production to the legal matters, to the marketing and the content creation herself;
Pilar is also the co-owner of Ezeus (@ezeus.co) a creative marketing agency that she is currently building with her friend
‘’I truly feel so lucky to have something of my own that I truly work hard for. My goal is to empower women all around the world, and that is my main message, encourage women to be and do better for themselves!’’
What inspired you to start WOLFF the Label?
Since moving from Spain to England at 16 years old, living alone, and meeting very diverse and amazing people; my understanding of what it means to be successful kept changing. Two years ago, I realised, for me, success meant having something of my own; building an empire, with blood, sweat, and tears. I love fashion, and I love business; so, I started my entrepreneurial journey in 2019 – at 21 years old, and White Wolfpack Ltd was born. The mother of WOLFF THE LABEL, a brand I created from my desire to create a community, a ‘wolffpack’ of alluring women; women who believe in one another. My aim is to inspire and encourage women to be and do better for themselves. I love seeing women feel fierce, bold, and sexy; and that is what WOLFF is all about. Power, the beauty of all sorts, sustainability, and diversity.
How did you start with WOLFF the Label?
After working for Nylander Couture as an administrator, fashion assistant, and design assistant; I thought ‘I am ready’ and I went for it. God, I wasn’t ready at all, the stress and anxiety I went through were eye-opening. After a year of ups and downs, a lot of learning about legal matters, trademark issues, lawyers, suppliers, manufacturers, fabric and trimming sourcing, a lot of agreements and disagreements; I started to feel in control. I am so proud I just went for it. Because every day I know more, and I control more. That is my advice, just go for it. Work hard, make mistakes, learn from them; and you’ll become the best at it. Failure and overcoming is the path to true success.
Tell us what do you do as the owner?
Being the owner of WOLFF means I take care of all the legal matters, the administration, management, and the fun side; I am the designer of the brand, and the producer, as well as the creative director of all that WOLFF undertakes. I am the website designer and I take care of the maintenance, as well as the content creator for Instagram’s account (@wolffthelabel).
So far, I work with a tailor, I design the clothes, I work on the sampling from scratch with him; we make a sealed sample and take it to production. As you can imagine it is a long process, a lot of hours of work and effort, hours spent running around London looking for the right fabric and trimmings and making tough decisions and making sacrifices; but I wouldn’t change it for the world. It is my passion, and I consider myself lucky to be able to work on something I truly love.
What types of services do you offer to your clients?
At EZEUS we offer content creation, brand development, Instagram and Facebook Ads, Google Ads and SEOs, as well as more specific services such as video editing, editorial/image editing, and design.
My good friend, Ignacio Prieto, and I started this agency a few months back and we are working hard to establish it well. With his degree in Business and Marketing at Westminster University and mine in Creative Direction for Fashion at London College of Fashion, I trust we can offer brilliant services to our clients and I believe that when there’s passion and hard work, anything is possible. The journey will never be easy, but worth every bad day, the satisfaction of hard work paying off is all that matters.
Why is social media marketing important for every business?
For the past three years, I have seen how the digital world has expanded massively. Everything is at the reach of your phone, we look for reviews, shops, restaurants, people, online; before we consider going somewhere or doing something. Social media has become not only a social tool but a business and marketing tool. A tool used for growth, expansion and sales, globally; reaching everyone, everywhere at the speed of a click. The digital presence has truly become a must for any business, especially now with COVID-19, businesses that were already digital and with a good social media marketing team set, have proven to survive better than those who didn’t have that.
Sales are sales, a business will always be business, but people need more than that. They need an emotional connection, a story to follow, a feeling, or someone to relate to; then they will buy. With social media, you can connect at a much more personal level with your client, you can become part of their daily life, be wise, bring something more than just a product or a service to the table.
What has been your greatest accomplishment so far?
So far, my greatest accomplishment is graduating with a First at London College of Fashion, UAL, for BA Creative Direction for Fashion; launching my own clothing brand, and meeting very valuable and genuine friends along the way. To mention some, Ignacio, Miranda, and Madison. Life goes by so fast, you’ll lose people, you will fail, but coming out strong and resilient, believing in oneself and doing good is all that truly matters. I have learned a lot during this lockdown, being more patient, trusting the timing of God, being respectful, understanding and fighting for that you believe in, is really the key to accomplish anything in life.
When you suffer a setback, how does that emotionally affect you and your work?
I suffer from anxiety and a slight level of obsessive-compulsive disorder, this means I excessively double-check things, decisions I make, thoughts, etc. Doing senseless things to reduce my anxiety such as Dermatillomania, which is a skin-picking disorder. This is very mentally draining but I try not to let it affect my work. I am not ashamed of this, as it is a part of me; and I have been working on since I was ten years old. I hope that if anyone who reads this suffers from something similar, that they understand that it is okay, it gets better with time and that they are not alone. I am doing much better, but this comes out strongly when I work and focus a lot on a project or task. I am very demanding on myself.
Whenever I suffer a setback, I might struggle more than others, but I stay consistent with whatever I do, I don’t allow myself to fall and I keep on working and believing in what I am doing. Loosing hope and giving up is never the solution. Finding a different route to achieve whatever I set myself to do, whenever I fail, it really is the key to growing and improving. Having a good circle of friends and support is so very important. Sometimes you need someone to remind you of your worth and you then push yourself back up.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
The best advice I have ever received is to always under promise and over-deliver. This applies to everything in life. Business, relationships, education.
What is a skill you think all women should learn and why?
Be fierce, be bold, believe in yourself, and start before you are ready. Read plenty of books, educate yourself, commit to ‘trial and error’, be transparent, and learn from those around you. Grow and act upon all that you believe in. Provide for yourself, fight for yourself, because then no one will have power over you.
What have been some of your failures, and what have you learned from them?
When I started my company, White Wolfpack Ltd, I had no patience, I wanted to rush everything and get it started. Reality hit the fan, I found myself with invoices and employees I couldn’t afford to pay. I paid for them and ate very little food for a few weeks due to it. I learned that nothing should go before yourself, your health, and wellbeing. If you can’t bring a project to life straight away, be patient, be consistent, and go ahead with it once your resources allow you to.
Being an entrepreneur can be draining, exhausting, stressful, having to make sacrifices and tough decisions; but it is worth it all because the satisfaction is everlasting.
My advice is, understand that learning is a continuous thing, take responsibility for your failures, compliment yourself and those who work for or with you, embrace every chance, forgive but don’t forget, feed your brain and soul every day and always, set yourself goals.
Contact Details: Pilar Rubio
Instagram: @whitewolf.rubio_
Owner of White Wolfpack Ltd and WOLFF THE LABEL – @wolffthelabel / www.wolffthelabel.com / admin@wolff-thelabel.com
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