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Happy National Secondhand Wardrobe day, Under 30 readers!
I’m Alex York, the new reporter on all things Under 30. If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably been avoiding that closet cleanout for far too long. After all, we all have that one item that would be absolutely perfect for some specific occasion that may or may not occur.
As hard as it is to get rid of the old, Emily Gittins is here to help. The 30 Under 30 Retail & Ecommerce alum is on a mission to make reselling old and unused clothing easy. In 2021, she cofounded Archive, a software development company that works with clothing sellers like Oscar de la Renta, Ulla Johnson and The North Face to launch resale programs. She’s since secured $24 million in funding from investors like Lightspeed Ventures and Bain Capital.
Gittins was attending Stanford’s MBA and masters in environment and resources programs when she learned that fashion contributes to nearly 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. And 80% of that impact comes from new item production, she said.
She set out on a two-year long expedition of interviewing consumers and brands about their secondhand habits. Based on their feedback, Archive was born.
“The initial idea was to launch branded peer-to-peer marketplaces,” she says. “Imagine Poshmark, but fully white label for the brand to allow their customers to buy and sell directly with each other.”
While that consumer-to-consumer model remains a significant part of the business, the company has recently expanded to include multiple models of reselling. For instance, Archive offers the option for brand partners to launch take-back programs where customers drop off used items to the store they purchased from. Additionally, the company built a resale warehouse management software, which allows them to manage everything from resale inventory, cleaning, photography and order fulfillment for brand partners. And Archive–which Gittins says is not yet profitable–assists brand partners in upcycling and recycling used goods to then donate to an organization of their choice.
“We want every brand to do resale, but we are also focused on that depth within brands,” Gittins said. “Proving that [resale] can be 10% or 20% of a brand’s revenue is the north star in our minds in terms of timelines to profitability.”
Until next week,
A Draft Of TikTok’s Plan To Avoid A Ban Gives The U.S. Government Unprecedented Oversight Power
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of TikTok? If TikTok hopes to continue operating in the U.S., there’s a plethora of policies it might have to implement, according to a draft agreement.
One Minute With Sophie Beren
We’re bringing you the scoop on a new Under 30 community member each week. Up this week: Sophie Beren, founder of The Conversationalist, a non-partisan educational media brand. Beren appeared on our Under 30 Education list in 2023.
Describe your summer in three words. Chaotic, introspective, cruel (in the sense that I’ve been listening to “Cruel Summer” nonstop and that my summer was defined by going to the Eras Tour).
What is your favorite app? Beli. I’m one of those “live to eat” instead of “eat to live” people and this app has the inner foodie in me fully FULL-filled.
Can you walk me through your morning routine? I’m one of those people who sleeps with their blinds open, which makes it easier to wake up right before 7 a.m. I make myself a matcha latte with oat milk, and on a perfect day I take a walk around the block with a different JoBros, Renee Rapp or Taylor Swift song in my ears. I get clear on my to-do list, reply to emails, texts and comments, and once I’m back in my apartment or in our studio, I’m off working on projects and priorities with my team.
What do you think is overrated (in your field, or in the world in general)? Hustle culture. Something I’ve learned is that there will always be more work to do, and Rome wasn’t built in a day, even though as entrepreneurs, we like to think we can be the ones to prove that wrong.
What do you think is underrated? Face to face conversation and genuine human connection.
What is your hottest take? Work-life balance doesn’t exist.
What is one piece of advice you’d tell your 21-year-old self? You can’t be everything to everyone or liked and accepted by everyone, as much as you like to think you can, so stop trying to be anyone other than yourself.
What is one activity or practice you do to be more sustainable? If you know me, then you know that I’m rarely found without my yellow water bottle. I try my best to reduce my usage of single use items, especially single use plastics.
Lister Lowdown
-Peggy Poon, a 2022 Under 30 Europe Social Impact lister and founder of female founder accelerator Time to Raise, brought on fellow Under 30 Europe Social Impact alum Mikaela Larsell Ayesa to lead her company starting this July. Poon says she needed someone who could dedicate a full-time schedule to the company as she takes on her new role as head of operations at EQT Foundation, a Stockholm-based firm providing risk capital to entrepreneurs. She says Larsell Ayesa is a perfect fit due to her past experience with the highs and lows of running a business: Her former clothing rental startup, Future Closets, filed for bankruptcy in 2022, and she is now determined to help other female founders through difficult business decisions.
-London-based clothing startup Rotaro merged this month with resale platform and competitor My Wardrobe HQ. Rotaro was founded by 2022 Under 30 Europe Retail & Ecommerce lister Georgie Hyatt and launched in 2019 as a rental platform to encourage sustainable and circular shopping. “Rotaro was birthed out of pure love and joy for the planet, for self-expression and for community. Whilst it is no longer, I’m truly thrilled that our spirit and shared values of creating a revolutionary circular fashion system will live on through MWHQ and our wonderful community,” Hyatt wrote in a LinkedIn post.
-Under 30 lister Keely Cat-Wells announced last week a partnership with Reese Witherspoon’s media company Hello Sunshine. Cat-Wells’ brand Making Space Media, part of her larger Making Space umbrella, set out to address the lack of disability representation in media. The partnership will include production of unscripted content to “shine a light on the lived experience of the world’s largest and yet most overlooked and misrepresented community on the planet,” according to Deadline. Cat-Wells’ team declined to comment on the terms of the deal.
Read the full article here
