LENA: the fashion library
Fast fashion is so yesterday...
Producing poor quality clothes, selling them as fast fashion and having them end up in landfills is the old way of thinking. LENA believes in a circular approach, which promotes access over ownership and combats resource depletion and the production of textile waste. That's why they have maximised product lifetime using the sharing business model. One item serves many different people and it actually gets used, instead of being forgotten in one person's wardrobe.
In the five years LENA has been active, they have done a lot of experimenting with their business model, and after plenty of trial and error, they've found the right formula. Library members can borrow high-quality clothing: an affordable and practical way to give up fast fashion. For a pay-as-you-borrow system where you can pay by the day, members have access to a large collection of designer clothes from various sustainable brands.
- LENA has been active for over five years now and has saved around 35 000 items of clothing. This translates into about 5500 Olympic swimming pools of water and the CO2 emissions of 65 two-week holidays to Bali.
- LENA is now ready to take the next step: introducing the model in other areas of the industry, which mainly means encouraging brands to set up their own rental system. LENA is currently looking for brands interested in being part of the pilot project.