If you’ve ever torn through your closet like a tornado of textile destruction desperate to find the perfect outfit you wouldn’t be alone. In fact, only 20% of your garbs get a frequent night on the town, while the other 80% hang high and dry collecting dust in your closet. Luckily, Hype’s got your back with the latest innovation in fashion tech, reKindness.
Rekindness renews your wardrobe by making peer-to-peer clothing swaps online. Just snap a pic of your unwanted garment, select a monetary value, and upload into the community closet (without ever walking out your front door). We recently sat down with founder Melanie Kovach to find out how her social enterprise helps users give and take their way to a new wardrobe – and help the environment to boot.
After 13 years at Autotrader, Kovach “swapped out cars for cocktail dresses,” pursuing a more altruistic approach to building a startup.
“When I left, I knew I wanted to create something good in the world,” said Kovach. “While reKindness is a forprofit business, it’s meant to also be a social enterprise. We want to create more giving, gratitude, and generosity to help make a difference on the 21 billion pounds of textiles that go into landfills in the US every year.”
The digital platform (which is currently in beta live phase) works as a credit system, where members can swap their clothing and receive credits to spend towards another user’s ensemble. If a member decides they don’t want to “take” anything from the community closet, they can gift their clothes or donate their credits to someone in need – a touch of goodwill that Kovach and crew have already seen with their beta members.
While the startup won’t fully launch for the next few months, the reKindness team is already working on features like “fit match” so members of the same size can connect with one another, receive benefits like free shipping, and see a “sneak peak” into the community closet.
“It’s been great to sit back and watch how things happen. People are excited to see something they no longer want get use. Plus, they get the opportunity to stretch their style and try something new if they choose.”
Be green and look good doing it, stay up-to-date on ReKindness’ official launch by following them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
