INTERVIEW #8 SOMETHING BORROWED

“Our service is a rental service and we focus on what we call everyday luxury.”

Why did you start Something Borrowed?

Because me and my co-founder Daniella wanted to do something together that we thought could make a change. Daniella was more interested in fashion and hasstudied fashion. She knew how much negative impact there is from newly-produced clothes. I’m more of a solution seeker so we wanted to create something that is a solution and doesn’t ruin the planet. with Daniella and my problem-solving skills and logistic background, this was an issue we thought we could take on. We really felt that this was something important to do. 

We started already in 2016, used our friends clothes and tried to see if anyone wanted to rent them. We wanted to make it digital. We did a pilot to see if anyone was interested. People hadn’t really heard about it renting before then. This was a very capital heavyproject, so we started our fundraising round, so we got an investor and relaunched in 2018. That’s the official date. 

How do to you pick your products/what you sell?

“The big chain are interested in new business models. If we are able to show them that they can rent out their products, and see the economic benefit through us, this might change the way they operate.”

Our service is a rental service and we focus on what we call everyday luxury. We focus on after work and more causal events. It’s a service you have per month. Every month users subscribe and they can choosewhat they want in their package. Three items 599 SEK per month is the basic one. We also recently launched a surprise box, 299 SEK for that one. It’s for the less picky consumer who wantssomething new. The most popular is the three items, laundry and shipping is included. We use our own reusable textile bags. 

We started out with only sustainable brands, more conscious brands. But people are not very happy about trying out new brands so now we have a few sustainable brands but we have shifted more to the Nordic fashion brands, like Filippa K, Dagmar and Hope. This is because we want to make the customers happy. They know what value they get. We have started collaborations with bigger actors such as Åhléns, MQ and so on. The main reasons we started these collaborations is that we want to involve them to be able to reach a mass and change behaviour. The big chain are interested in new business models. If we are able to show them that they can rent out their products, and see the economic benefit through us, this might change the way they operate. 

What has been and are the major challenges?

“The value of renting is higher.”

The behavioural part. To change people’s point of view and mind regarding rental. It’s still a little bit left to change regarding mindset for people to start to renting. It’s very hard to change people’s behaviour. 600 SEK per month sounds expensive. But if they bought an item from Filippa K they might not use as much, it’s way cheaper to rent. The value of renting is higher. This is hard to explain. 

What has been and are the largest gains?

For us, it’s been about seeing that we can do something that has an impact. We have helped to but rental on the map. We have actually contributed so that big chains also start to collaborate with us and chose rental. People see what we do and start to think. 

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

I think we have to move from the linear system. As long as we earn money on linear production and make profit out of it, it will not change. We shouldn’t earn money on producing more. We need to change the core business on how fashion works and on how all businesses operate.  

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

“You can go bananas in a second hand store, and then you can use them and give them back.”

All kinds of tags talking about organic cotton and so on, makes consumers think it’s okay to buy new clothes. If you recycle your clothes you get money to buy new clothes, that’snot good for the environment. And the fact is we can’t recycle clothes, most clothes made of recycling material aren’t made out of old textiles. We also feel very good about donating clothes, but not all of them will be sold. All these kinds of marketing makes people feel good, but doesn’t really change the larger picture. 

What would you advice consumers to do who seeks to create a sustainable closet and lifestyle?

●      Avoid new production. New consumption is the issue here. The most sustainable thing to do is to reuse clothes. Take care of what you already have. 

●      You can go bananas in a second hand store, and then you can use them and give them back. You can add economic value by shopping second hand. We can’t stop consuming totally, we just have to consume the right things. 

●      Pack clothes away, store them and pick them up again. That’s a good way to rotate yourself and get happily surprised by the things you own.