The GLAMOUR X SKIP “Digital Storytelling Series” focuses on fashion, youth culture, and entrepreneurship in South Africa. Here, GLAMOUR chats with Cleo Marcopoulos and Tash Liesner from Style Rotate
Style Rotate is an online rental platform for South Africans. Founders Cleo Marcopoulos and Tash Liesner wanted to create an opportunity for South Africans to consume fashion more sustainably and be able to rent outfits easily and efficiently. Clothing often stays in closets for years not being enjoyed. Style Rotate aims to reduce one-time wears and and the amount of clothes ending up in landfills.
Style Rotate partners with local and international brands and designers to rent out pieces from their collections. They also offer the option for lender rentals, where they rent out individual’s wardrobes. Someone may say, “I had a dress made for a wedding and it no longer fits me or I am just not getting any wear out of it, I would love to share it with your community,” explains Tash and then they will get paid for it. They also offer capsule wardrobe rentals with celebrities and influencers such as Sarah Lunga and Pearl Thusi who share their wardrobes with the rest of South Africa.
Other rental companies overseas use dry cleaning but Tash points out that this has a negative impact on the environment, from chemicals affecting water, using lots of electricity and is expensive. Style Rotate has partnered with a female owned laundromat in Gardens who does all the cleaning for them and they use a gentle wash machine, hand wash and sun dry the clothing to minimise their water and electricity usage.
Style Rotate is aware that sustainability is the future. When they select clothing for rentals, they make sure the clothing can be worn more than thirty times and can withstand the cleaning process in between rentals. They also have a female seamstress to mend clothing that has snags, tears or if a button falls off. When dresses come back there is often dirt on the hem and they have to care for their pieces a lot in between rentals.
“There’s a reason why loved clothes last because when you mend a piece of clothing, when you clean it with care, when you share it with people, you put love into it and that’s what we want to do with our business,” says Tash.
Style Rotate aims to make their renters feel fabulous and offers a fun and sustainable alternative to shopping.
Watch the full interview with Style Rotate below:
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