You might be surprised to know that there are a heap of awesome circular fashion businesses already weaving their way into the homes and hearts of us Aussies. The best bit - there's already something to suit almost any budget and they're only going to keep on coming.
In this article I will:
- Give you a quick overview of some of these fabulous circular fashion businesses and explain what they do and how they can be game-changing for you and your kids!
- Included details of a few businesses that can help us grown ups with a killer (and abundant) sustainable wardrobe.
- PLUS there is a link at the end for a FREE printout/summary page of all of these businesses so that you can stick it on the wall and refer to it next time your need to shop or do a wardrobe purge. I keep banging on about this, but I am ALL about making knowing what to do with your old clothes as easy as knowing where to buy more. Why? Because it will keep more clothes out of landfill.
One thing I need to say before I introduce these brands is that a favourite thing about my business journey so far is discovering that people working in the circular fashion/profit-for-purpose business space seem to have one thing in common. They're a bunch of legends! While technically some of us might be competitors in a way, I've had contact with the founders of many of the businesses mentioned in this article. And I'm pleased to say that we support each other and we cheer each other on. While profit is absolutely essential so that we can continue doing what we do, many of us are also motivated by a higher 'purpose'. Which is to bring clever solutions to a really BIG environmental problem. When you read on, what you'll see is that all roads do lead to Rome but there are certainly many different ways to get there. As Greta Thunberg reportedly told Vogue Scandinavia, 'you cannot mass produce fashion or consume sustainably as the world is shaped today. This is one of the many reasons why we need a system change.'
So hello, here is a system change! Comin right 'atcha!
Subscription Clothing Services - Children
At the moment the market for subscription clothing services for little people is more obviously skewed towards catering for babies and toddlers. That's because this is the age group where your children can go through four sizes in their first year of life! It's easy to see why renting makes sense. That being said as Curious Kind grows our next move is absolutely going to be towards bigger children's sizes hopefully all the way up to age 6. So stay tuned.
If you're reading this, hopefully by now we need no introduction! Based out of Brisbane and new to the game, Curious Kind (@curiouskind_au) brings you an innovative way to shop sustainably for baby and toddler clothes. Partnering with some of the best sustainable brands out there and bringing you organic clothes that are kinder to people and kinder to the planet. You have the option to RENT or BUY these clothes and ultimately save a lot of money. You get to choose exactly what is in your bundle. Plus you can choose from new and pre-loved items. Order what you need now, have it delivered to you door and send it all back when you're finished. If you've rented, you can simply swap them out for another subscription. If you've purchased, we PAY YOU for your hand-me-downs by rewarding you with 15% store credit if you return your purchased items to us when you no longer need them. In any condition, for life.
Conscious Koala (@consciouskoalakids) is based out of Sydney and would have to be one of the earliest businesses in the subscription clothing space for babies in Australia (ages 0 - 2 years). Founder Tina is beautiful soul with a true desire to be part of the solution. For $49/month you receive 14 (!) pieces of ethically made, gender neutral, organic clothing. Then you simply swap it out for another box when you need a new size.
Preloved Children's Clothing
Thought you'd have to spend your days scouring op shops to buy preloved clothes for your kids? Well this is the 21st century baby. There is nothing that you can't do with the 'gram and a website these days! And by the way, if you give these guys below a follow on Instagram you'll be surprised to see just how often they're selling 'preloved' clothes that still have their tags on!
I'm placing Jumping Jack (@jumpingjackau) up front because I love that they not only sell preloved clothes, but they also offer their Clean Out Bag service, where you can send them all of your old children's clothing and they will use their brand and networks and sell it on your behalf! Genius.
This brand (@the_preloved_peach) is also very new to the game, and are crushing it. They offer preloved bundles for babies that come beautifully boxed. All you have to do is jump on their website, pick your baby's size, gender and a box size (small (10 items), medium (15 items) and large (20 items)). The bundles are priced at $40, $60 and $80 respectively. Check out the photos on their website and Instagram if you're not convinced!
I love Hello Pepi (@hello.pepi) because they bring a little bit of luxe to the preloved kid's fashion game with their 'premium' offerings. Think brand names and high quality pieces, but preloved. They also do footwear (winning!) and their Instagram is beautifully curated. You can even sell your own preloved children's clothes via their 'seller' portal and marketplace on the website.
This brand (@minimepreloved_australia) was one of the first preloved children's clothing sites that was recommended to me by a lovely neighbour. They have so much good stuff, it is so easy to purchase, shipping is a flat rate of $4.90 and they even have Afterpay!
One final brand very worthy of a mention is Indigo James (@indigojamespreloved). Their offering is preloved designer clothes for babies and children all the way up to 4 years. They sell through Instagram so you simply comment 'SOLD' on their posts to buy.
Preloved & Subscription Women's Clothing
I'm going to be honest, I'm not as across this space as much as I am with children's wear, for obvious reasons. But I just want to mention two services that I think are really worth your while checking out.
You possibly already know and love Glam Corner (@glamcornerau) for their beautiful offering of designer women's wear for rent. But did you know they now also do subscription clothing boxes? I have been a customer of the boxes for a few months now and I love it. To be perfectly honest, I originally signed up to do some research and get a feel for the 'unboxing experiencing' searching for some inspiration to come up with something cool and unique for my own baby and toddler subscription offerings at Curious Kind. However, it's become something that I love and have continued to use. Subscriptions start at $99/month for 3 items and you can get anything from leisurewear to workwear to evening gowns. I've been really surprised at just how good supplementing my existing wardrobe with 3 extra pieces each month has been. I'm actually planning on dedicating a whole blog article to this topic soon! As a bonus, Glam Corner are also a certified B Corp which means that they give a s*%t about the planet.
Label Pig
Full disclosure, I've never purchased from Label Pig (@labelpig) but I do enjoy the captions on their Instagram posts when I'm in the right mood and some of the things they have on offer is mind-blowingly good! This business also hails from Brissy and I have friends who have purchased things from their Pop Up shops. Label Pig allows you to buy or sell (on consignment) beautiful designer women's wear and accessories. All done through the 'gram. The quality is fantastic, you also usually get the item's backstory (on the Instagram post) and the pieces and brands are so so good!
Clothing Recycling
I think its fair to say that we have all donated things to Lifeline and other charities which on reflection were probably never going to see the light of day on a shop floor. But where else do you send your non-designer preloved clothes? Well until now - that was a very good question and if it wasn't given to Lifeline it probably ended up in the bin. So now you need to read this!
The founders of Upparel (@upparelofficial) are a couple who initially founded sock and underwear subscription company, Manrags. Then one day their conscience got the better of them and they realised that their business was contributing to a really big problem and they didn't want that as their legacy. You can read all about their story on their About Us page. Since then, what they've created in less than 1.5 years is nothing short of incredible. This is the business that is really going to 'close that loop' and make your clothes shopping circular no matter where you've shopped. What they offer is a clothing and textile COLLECTION and recycling service. You go online, book a collection which starts at 10kg for $25 (in return you get $25 store credit). You box up your items, then a courier comes to YOUR door, picks up your old stuff and takes it away. They accept a huge range of items from clothes to shoes to bedding and towels as well as old fabric (you can view the full list here). To add to the credibility of Upparrel they recently announced that they would no longer make and sell underwear as part of their retail or subscription offerings because their was currently no sustainable way to recycle them. Cudos!
So now that you know about Upparel I want you to repeat this mantra after me. "I [insert your name here] will no longer place my rubbish in a charity bin." Please, please, please if you're using a charity bin only place good quality clothes in excellent condition in there. Because if you don't, chances are they will end up in landfill, which then means your good intentions are actually part of the problem too.
As promised I have just delivered a roundup of some of my absolute favourite circular fashion brands in Australia, for a range of clothes on ANY budget. Some haven't necessarily set out to be circular per se but they are contributing to the process nonetheless. Please tell me you're starting to see that circular fashion is actually really achievable?? Inevitably there is so much to say on this topic that I have waffled on a bit. So as one final gift I have created a simple and free one page downloadable summary for you. You can print it off, stick to the inside of a wardrobe or cupboard and next time you need to clear out some old clothes or are looking to buy some new ones. Please use this! Just enter your email address in the form below to receive a link to your download.
Thanks as always for being part of this community and please let me know if there are any other brands I should add to this handy guide and I'll update it and share the love!!! xxx