OUR CONCEPT

Collaborative consumption: clothes as a service.

Only 20 percent of the clothes in the average person’s closet are worn on a regular basis.

Journal of Marketing Research

The idea of sole ownership is beginning to be challenged by collaborative consumption in todays society with companies such as AirBnB and Uber becoming huge successes by enabling their users to share underutilised assets, namely apartments and cars. By doing so they have improved aspects of efficiency, community, and sustainability.

Studies have shown that new, fashion business models based on collaborative consumption (such as the rental services above) often have difficulties in moving from the margins to the mainstream of the fashion industry (Pedersen et al).

Our aim is to create a clothing library service that appeals to the mainstream market in order to have the biggest impact in revolutionising the way we shop. Imagine if a universal wardrobe belonged to everyone, there was no pressure to wear the same items on repeat, choices are unlimited. Customers would turn into consumers, stepping away from ownership to maximising the use of a shared pool of resources.

To demonstrate the potential impact of this business model – If global fashion consumption were reduced by 25 percent, it would result in 20 billion fewer clothes per year (Ellen MacAurthur). Moreover, we can take care of clothes at the end of their lifecycle ensuring an effective recycling process further limiting the environmental footprint of the industry.

Consumers that would still prefer to permanently buy their clothes from the universal wardrobe could still benefit from the increased transparency and traceability enabled through technologies such as RFID tracing brand suppy chains and encouraging ethical and sustainable purchases.

Sources:

Ellen MacArthur Foundation. “A New Textiles Economy: Redesigning Fashion’s Future.” 2017.

Gjerdrum Pedersen, Esben Rahbek. “Collaborative Consumption: Business Model Opportunities and Barriers for Fashion Libraries.” Copenhagen Business, 2018.