You’ve shown us a lot of love this last week. We’re super grateful. And super relieved. Because this could have gone real differently.
We were almost on Dragons’ Den last February. And that would have been catastrophic.
The episode was actually recorded all the way back in May last year. And we were told it might go live at the beginning of 2026.
So we got our collection in order, made sure we had a tonne of stock.
And then it didn’t happen.
At the time we were gutted. We were raring to go. And we had a huge amount of stock that needed to go.
I mean look at at us all… so ready for the Den...
All those smiles superimposed onto Dragons were briefly turned upside down.
Deborah (legend that she is) counselled us through it like we were kids who needed to know Christmas would one day come again. She said we’d be okay.
And thank goodness the Dragons’ Den episode didn’t go live any sooner than it did.
Back in February, we still handled distribution from our office. That made sense once upon a time.
We once got a tidy ten or fifteen orders a day. Claire, the most refined and most French member of our team, used to come in, get everything shipped in an hour, and go home.
Those days have been gone for a while, but we were in denial.
Until a huge shipment arrived in February and our office was suddenly rammed full of boxes stacked on boxes stacked on boxes stacked on boxes stacked on boxes stacked on boxes.
We realised… this might be too much stock for our office to handle.
So we searched far and wide to find a distribution team who cared about good team culture as much as we did, and sent everything to them on a lorry.
Destiny is kind.
It spared us in that moment.
If the Dragons’ Den episode went live in February, we’d have had no chance.
We would have been packing orders until 2am each night. Sleeping in the office. Living on a diet of Red Bull. And we’d probably accidentally ship one of you an empty can.
Trust us, it was crazy enough...
On the day of the episode, we were waiting on a late shipment to arrive, worrying we were going have to set half the clothes on our website to “pre-order only”.
Thousands of Yes Friends items arrived with hours to spare.
Our new warehouse speedsters checked it all in that afternoon (back in February it would have taken us days).
And after hundreds of orders came in that night, they shipped it all super fast.
They’re like superhumans. Or professionals. Either way we’re grateful.
Instead of crying each morning as we brushed our teeth, getting ready for another day of shipping endless stock, we got to celebrate. We were able to take a breath and enjoy seeing all the lovely things you all had to say...
"Saw Yes Friends on Dragons' Den and totally fell in love..." - Jo
"Just screamed at the tv 'I've got shorts and tops from there!'" - Louise
"LOVE OUR DEBS 😂😂😂 "clearsmythroat" Deborah ❤️❤️❤️❤️ " - Fee
Whether you were screaming at the TV or discovering us for the first time, we're so glad to have you with us on this mission to transform the fashion industry.
And we're so glad you weren't sent an empty can of Red Bull.
P.S. Did you miss the Barn Jacket drop?!
These barn jackets arrived with hours to spare last Thursday. And people are already loving what's they're seeing.
“…can’t believe the price as the quality is so good.” – Hannah
"I'm blown away by the quality" – Deborah Meaden
If you're anything like us, you'll feel adrift whenever you have to hang your barn jacket by the front door, and alive when you take it down again.
You’ll even enjoy standing outside somebody’s house while they insist they’re “just coming” and their definition of “just” extends at least five minutes longer than it should.
