Clothes swapping made easy in Singapore: the Fashion Pulpit
Imagine if we treated clothes as precious commodities, cherishing each piece and extending its lifespan. Could this mindset shift revolutionize the way we shop and consume fashion? These questions have been weighing on my mind, especially as I've delved deeper into the environmental impact of the textile industry.
The fashion industry's staggering carbon emissions, water pollution from textile dyeing, and overall environmental footprint have led me to advocate for circularity in fashion. The fashion industry produces 10% of humanity’s carbon emissions, textile dyeing ranks 2nd place on the list of water polluting activities, and 20% of all industrial water pollution is caused by the fashion industry (link). Circular business models, which prioritize resource recovery and recycling, offer a sustainable solution to the industry's ecological challenges.
In recent years, the rise of the resale market has been a game-changer. From online marketplaces like Caroussel in Southeast Asia to curated platforms like Poshmark in the United States, the preloved fashion trend is gaining momentum. Not only does it align with sustainability goals, but it also makes strong business sense. The second-hand apparel market is projected to double in size by 2026, surpassing the fast fashion industry in value. It will be worth 218 billion US dollars in 2026 (link). Compare this to the current value of the fast fashion industry: according to the same source, its value will amount to 133 billion US dolars in 2026 (link). Circular fashion business models become increasingly popular. These frameworks feature “supply chains that recover or recycle the resources used to create their products” (link).
One exemplary manifestation of the resale market concept is The Fashion Pulpit, Singapore's pioneering clothing swapping platform. Founded by Raye Padit, this innovative venture has flourished over the past five years, defying challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, The Fashion Pulpit's downtown Singapore store offers a curated selection of preloved apparel, shoes, bags, and accessories, all centered around the concept of clothes swapping.
Photo taken by the author on 09 February 2023.
What does a resale market concept look like in reality? I visited the Fashion Pulpit, “Singapore’s first and largest swapping platform” (website). It exists since five years and it started with a pop up. Pop ups are great minimum viable products (MVP) for fashion ventures. Clients visit a pop up store, one can get immediate feedback from them. Data points such as number of visits, number of items purchased, value of purchases feed into the baseline (to measure commercial viability).
Raye Padit, the founder of Fashion Pulpit, did not stop there. He and his team kept the course despite challenges such as Covid and lockdowns in Singapore in 2021. Fast forward five years. The Fashion Pulpit store in downtown Singapore is spacious, organized according to size, and features apparel, shoes, bags and accessories. The concept is centered around clothes swapping. You sell clothes you don’t wear anymore, you purchase preloved apparel from others.
Visitors of the Fashion Puplit shop in downtown Singapore notice signs on the wall, just above the racks of neatly organized clothes. They cite statistics about preloved fashion and quotes from the “Inside Our Wardrobe” report 2022. The shopping experience therefore deviates from visiting just any fashion store; it is educational as well.
I asked Raye whether the Fashion Pulpit customers shop at the store because they want to be ‘good consumers’. He mused that while sustainability might be the initial reason, there are other, more pertinent motivating factors:
Value
Cost (saving money).
The cost saving argument should not be underestimated. After all, those that sign up for a one year membership can save up to SGD 600 (current exchange rate: USD 453 or EUR 422). Use cases for these models range from: the young professional who wants to look chic in the office but not spend a ton of money. Or the 65 year old who is at the end of her career and would like to downsize her wardrobe. If I had to create a customer persona for the Fashion Pulpit, I would have to create 2–4 different ones.
The different SWAP memberships range from 1 month to 12 months.
If you are anything like me and track your expenses, then saving roughly EUR 430 a year of your wardrobe budget is enticing.
What are the types of services that the Fashion Pulpit offers in addition to preloved items?
Alterations
Workshops
Podcasts.
I was particular curious about the digitization of the clothes. And whether sales get tracked at a very detailed level (brand, product type, cost, quantity). This has not been done yet, but is a future endeavor. In my view, an excellent idea and not mine. One of my industry contacts, a representative of a French sports brand, suggested it. Brands are interested in the preloved apparel market. They’d like to know which items get sold at what price and at what frequency and volume. This helps confirm market trend assumptions and better predict future consumer behavior.
A graduate of several startup accelerator programs, I always enquire about business plans and models when I talk to entrepreneurs like Raye. Having created two unsuccessful (= not financially viable) startups, this is one of the first questions on my mind. The Fashion Pulpit did not start out based on a predefined business plan. However, Raye and his team continuously seek customer feedback to ensure a high degree of customer centricity.
We need more circular fashion business models like The Fashion Pulpit. After all, it is in our interest to reduce the environmental footprint of the fashion industry.
Would you like to find out about The Fashion Pulpit? Visit their website at: www.thefashionpulpit.com.
Sources:
Atalay Atasu, Céline Dumas, Luk N. Van Wassenhove, Harvard Business Review: “The Circular Business Model”. July 2021. Link.
ElleEducation, Fernando Aguileta de la Garza: “The Rise of the Resale Market: The Landscape Inside the Fashion Industry’s New Mindset”. Link.
Morgan McFall Johnsen for Business Insider and World Economic Forum: “These facts show how unsustainable the fashion industry is”. 31 January 2020. Link.
Statista: “Secondhand apparel market value worldwide from 2021 to 2026”. Link.
Statista: “Fast fashion market value forecast worldwide from 2021 to 2026”. Link.
The Fashion Pulpit. www.thefashionpulpit.com