Leeds teen orphaned at 14 shows 'do it myself' attitude as she launches her own business
Her dad died when she was four and her mum died in 2021
A Leeds teenager orphaned at 14 who developed a thick-skin and a "do it myself" attitude has launched her own business.
Lacie McHugh, 19, from Halton, developed a fighting spirit and hardened can-do attitude after losing her parents. Lacie’s mum and dad were “beautiful, really good, people – it’s sad they lost their lives so young.”
The determined businesswoman lost dad Gavin, 29, to a rare lung disease, Lymphangiomatosis, when she was just four years old, before losing her mum Gemma, 38, to Covid-19 in 2021. Her business is called Lend My Look, a subscription-based fashion lending platform, at a cut-rate price to make fashion “more accessible”.
Speaking about picking up the pieces after losing her mum, Lacie said: “It definitely made me more motivated. I’ve got to do it myself, if that makes sense? It’s me against the world now, I’ve got to carry on. I still went to school and did my GCSEs, I grieved but I had to take it in my stride.
“It’s upsetting but you’ve got to keep going. I did have a support system around me, my auntie and my grandma. You’ve just got to keep going and do the best you can. You can’t give up, you can’t let it get you down. The light’s always at the end of the tunnel. You’ve got to have a thick skin, even if you don’t go through trauma, you’ve always got to be prepared for the worst.”
Lacie went into a business apprenticeship with a family friend after finishing school, and continued it alongside studying business at Leeds City College. She came up with the business concept two years ago.
Lacie said: “I came up with the idea as it was the year below’s prom and I thought there were so many girls who can’t afford to buy a dress, and there needs to be a solution for that. It got me thinking. After my prom, I had no use for my prom dress, it sort of just stayed in my wardrobe."
She officially launched Lend My Look on August 26 - her late mum’s birthday. Lacie deliberately chose the date as a way of making her mum part of one of the biggest milestones of her life.
Lend My Look currently has 106 sign-ups with five stylists lending their items. Members pay £4.99 per month to lend unlimited outfits, with no hidden fees (users are only asked to cover the cost of shipping). As well as lending as many outfits as they like, users can also upload clothes from their own wardrobes and lend them to other members.
Lacie explained: ‘I’m trying to build a community of women that not only share fashion with each other but look out for each other too. We often meet up in person.’
The platform is seeing constant growth, with members borrowing outfits from all over the UK with Lacie focused on growing the community and developing the business further. You can find out more, here.