INTERVIEW #38 PRELOVED STORIES

Based in: Stockholm, Sweden

Founded in: 2020

Founded by: Isabel Pogosian & Rachel Sundqvist Åberg

Shop at: Instagram, Facebook and Webshop, www.prelovedstories.se

Price range: From mid to high end designer clothes and accessories. 

Why we love them: Two girls with long experience in fashion pursuing their dream. You can really tell that every piece they sell is carefully selected and furthermore displayed in an inspiring and professional way, that’s the perception we get when visiting their Instagram and website. We really look forward to following Isabel and Rachel’s journey with Preloved Stories. 

Hi Isabel and Rachel! Please tell us how the idea and concept of Preloved Stories became reality?

We’re two friends with over ten years experience in sales, buying and styling in the fashion industry, Isabel from NK (Nordiska Kompaniet) in Stockholm and Rachel from funkis Swedish Forms, Sydney, Australia. We always wanted to work together and hoped to find an idea where we could create something with our entrepreneurial spirits. With the current situation in mind and the knowledge of the mass production's effect on the environment, neither one of us felt super enthusiastic to create another new brand and produce even more clothes, bags and shoes. Therefore the idea of starting selling preloved, second-hand clothing began as we both love the idea of slow fashion, recycling and sustainability. 

The idea with ‘Preloved Stories’ is that we will encourage people to sell and buy more preloved pieces through our biggest marketing channel today, Instagram.

We know you both have several years of experience from the fashion/styling industry, can you tell us how that experience is useful now when you’re running Preloved Stories? 

It’s very useful to have the experience from working within this industry. We’ve learnt the value of a quality product. To know your materials, to learn investing in a bit more expensive piece that will have a longer lifetime if you make sure to look after it properly rather than buying into fast fashion pieces that will get destroyed after a few washes. Learn how to plan your purchases and possibly have to save a bit longer to build the basic, timeless and classic wardrobe in high quality we believe everyone should aim for.

At Preloved Stories we’re able to both sell and shop (via the webshop and via Instagram) which we think is amazing! What pieces sell better than others according to you right now?

Accessories! Both because they are photogenic and because the demand is very high. It is easier to buy a bag or a wallet as it doesn’t have to fit a specific size like a shoe for example. We also believe that people in general look after their accessories better than they do with their clothing and shoes and this might be why it’s more attractive as well.

Considering your experiences, what would you say was the biggest “wake-up call” regarding fast fashion?

We’d say the short-loved usage of fast fashion and the wear and tear philosophy. Mass consumption as a whole has one of the biggest impacts on the climate today and we need to teach everyone how to take care of all of your belongings by thinking through your purchases, maintaining your belongings, washing them carefully, repairing etc. Today we produce double of what we were producing twenty years ago.

Pre-loved fashion is such a wide range of styles and vibes, the feeling we get from your assortment is more of a “luxurious vibe”, is that the impression you’re aiming for?

Yes we are aiming to only consign mid- to high end fashion with timeless, classic designs in good quality. We are avoiding fast fashion brands as we don’t want to encourage people into buying this and don’t believe it does enough for the environment as the lifetime is still short-lasted. Instead we want to encourage into saving up and investing in pieces than can stay with you for a lifetime.

What do you think needs to change now in the fashion industry to make it more sustainable?

That instead of having a wardrobe stuffed of mass produced clothes that you never wear to aim for a wardrobe with less but carefully selected quality pieces, preferably preloved. We believe that we need to decrease the mass consumption drastically to save our future. Not only for the fashion industry but also for other industries as in the food and technology etc. that leads to masses of waste and have devastating effects on our environment today. With small, very easy steps we can all make a huge difference by taking care of our clothing, repairing, re-use, don’t wasting, and finding another owner for our preloved pieces that we don’t use anymore. It’s not only good for our environment and for the economical aspect but also for our conscience, to feel like we’re not just adding stuff to a big pile of waste.

What is “greenwashing” according to you and what can producers and consumers do to avoid it?

Greenwashing is when the companies are using ‘sustainable’ as a way of marketing their products, misleading the consumer to believe they are buying consciously when they in reality doesn't have any facts to prove this, they’ve produced a tiny ‘sustainable’ range of it’s in overall ‘not sustainable’ large line. Or when they are making statements like ‘shop and save the planet’ which would never be the case in the fashion industry.

We think it can be difficult for the consumers to recognise the signs of greenwashing if you haven't been informed properly. Of course it’s always best to try to educate yourself especially about greenwashing and what companies that are having a negative impact on the climate.

Another easy and fun way is to learn about the materials in clothing and the impact this has on the environment, if you know your materials you will be able to foresee a lifetime of a product. Try to avoid synthetic and plastic materials as this is normally associated with fast fashion, short life time and very bad impact on the environment.

What would you advise consumers to do who seek to create a sustainable closet and lifestyle?

There are so many ways to be honest. One example of being more sustainable could be to make sure you know where the item is made and how it is made, how it is transported, what it is made of and so on. Unfortunately even though this sounds easy it isn’t that easy - as many brands aren’t transparent with this information. If you as a customer start questioning this it will be more difficult for them not to expose this and hopefully game changing for our future. Don’t stop asking yourself and companies questions and do your research.

Another thing is to think through your purchases and have a second thought. If you find something you like, make sure to go home and look over your wardrobe and make sure that the new item complements the rest of your wardrobe. Make sure it will go with your other pieces or even better, make a list of what you are missing in your wardrobe before even starting looking for something new. And last but not least, purchase Preloved items - there are so many nice things out there looking for a new home.

What’s the best thing about having your own store?

To be able to do what we believe in and to help give well kept pieces a second life. We love being creative and to give new life to already used pieces. It’s also so lovely to meet so many great people who want to sell or buy via our Preloved shop as we are all working together towards a circular wardrobe.