CIRCLE OF STYLE

Halting the environmental damage caused by fast fashion doesn’t mean that you can’t change up your wardrobe, finds Morag Bootland

Renting or reselling luxury clothes makes designer fashion ethical and affordable

Wearing designer clothing is one of life’s little luxuries, but keeping up with the latest trends doesn’t sit well with anyone who wants to live an ethical lifestyle. Fast fashion is contributing to the destruction of the planet – purchasing new, expensive investment pieces limits our wardrobes and spending hours scrolling through eBay to buy a dress that may or may not fit, or taking outings to scour charity shops for quality garments, is time-consuming and all too often fruitless.

There has to be a better way. Exchange, rental and resale businesses are growing in popularity and although the pandemic certainly slowed the revolution, the wheels were already very much in motion. Here in Scotland changes are afoot and businesses that offer an alternative way to get your ethical fashion fix are gaining traction.

Must Have Dresses opened its doors in September 2019 in Aberdeen. Owner Vish Archer was inspired to start the business by the damage being done to the environment by the fashion industry.

‘I hated the wastage, pollution and the impact on climate change so rental seemed like a good idea,’ says Vish. With the rise of Instagram and other social media channels she had noticed that many people would only wear a dress once, because they had posted snaps on their socials and knew it would be more efficient for them to rent than buy.

An unsuccessful search for a rental company based in Scotland inspired the former HR worker to open her own. Despite never having worked in fashion she now rents out gowns and can deliver them to customers in Aberdeen and post out to any who live further afield who can pick from a raft of designer dresses at her website www.musthavedresses.com.

The cost of hiring a gown depends on what it is worth, but as Vish rightly says, ‘If you can’t afford to buy a designer dress for £1,000 perhaps you can afford to rent it for £100.’

Sioda, or silk in Gaelic, is Scotland’s first monthly subscription fashion rental service. It was launched in Stirling in 2020 by managing director Naomi Ross and commercial director Alex McKenna.

Team«Sioda«is determined to disrupt the fast fashion industry’s ‘make, wear once and dispose’ approach and offer women a mainstream alternative so they can ‘rent beautiful high-quality clothes from our website, via affordable payment models,’ says Naomi. ‘We are committed to bring widespread change to the way society consumes fashion and to tackle some of the image-based challenges inequality can bring.’ Customers can rent one garment for a month for just £29 or four garments for £49, or can choose to subscribe and have access to extra member benefits. Clothes from size

4 to 26 are available to browse on the Sioda website at www.siodauk.com, where customers can find brands like Reiss, Jaeger, Max Mara, Aquascutum and Vivienne Westwood.

Worn returned items are cleaned using a Covid certified steam care system, using only environmentally-friendly products. Responsible business practices have been considered for everything from packaging garments to distributing them and banking. The innovative nature of the business to tackle the environmental impact of the fashion industry has already attracted support from Women’s Enterprise Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland, 2050 Climate Group, Scottish Enterprise, and Zero Waste Scotland.

‘Businesses that offer an alternative way to get your ethical fashion fix are gaining traction’

Harvey Nichols have recently partnered with luxury clothing resale service Reflaunt. Harvey Nic’s customers now have the opportunity to resell luxury bags, clothing and accessories for cash or store vouchers. Reflaunt boasts the largest second-hand community in the world with access to 50 million shoppers across a network of 25 marketplaces.

Customers can drop off any items that they’d like to resell at the collection point in the Harvey Nichols store or, if you live in London, you can take advantage of the Reflaunt Concierge service and have them collected. The rest is all taken care of on your behalf, so authentication, pricing and imagery uploading need not take up any of your valuable time. The partnership hopes to provide a hassle-free way to give past purchases a second life, while benefitting both their customers and the planet.

Handbag Heaven Exchange in Edinburgh’s New Town is a resale stalwart in the capital. Here you can buy, sell or exchange designer handbags and accessories to create a new look without the substantial outlay of purchasing new. Avoiding beautiful designer pieces gathering dust at the back of your wardrobe and giving them a new life is a win for your pocket, style and the environment.

Whether you choose to rent a dress for the next event you attend or decide to resell a piece that you’ve loved to wear you can also support Scottish businesses, do your bit for the environment and keep more of your hardearned cash – all while looking a million dollars.