No longer confined to the change of seasons, the fashion cycle moves at a lightning pace these days. In fact, trends can come and go in as little as a week.
All the activity may be thrilling for a fashionista who never wants to wear the same thing twice, but that urge comes at a high price. Mass production, cheap materials, and throwaway culture are detrimental to our environment. Even worse, it encourages the exploitation of workers to keep prices so low. Luckily, there are companies out there doing their part to reverse the effects.
Companies Battling Fast Fashion
Companies that are battling fast fashion have their work cut out for them, particularly as breakout stars like Shein are pushed into the $100 billion valuation range. We look at startups that are starting to gain traction and why they’re so vital to buyers and the industry at large.
Disclaimer: With so many exciting startups launching and growing worldwide, we aren’t able to cover them all. Furthermore, the startups that are listed below are not officially ranked and are listed in no particular order.
1. Rebag
- Location: New York, New York
- Founder(s): Charles-Albert Gorra, Erwan Delacroix
- Founded In: 2014
- Funding: Series E, $106 Million
- Investors Include: General Catalyst, All Iron Ventures, Big Sur Ventures
Rebag is a luxury handbag resale platform that specializes in buying and selling pre-owned designer bags and accessories. Founded in 2014 by Charles Gorra, the company aims to making the process of buying and selling high-end bags more accessible and transparent. Rebag has developed proprietary technology, including their Clair AI tool, which can instantly recognize and price designer handbags. With both an online presence and physical stores in major cities, Rebag has positioned itself as a key player in the circular fashion economy by promoting sustainability via extending the life cycle of luxury accessories.
2. Cuyana
- Location: San Francisco, California
- Founder(s): Karla Gallardo, Shilpa Shah
- Founded In: 2011
- Funding: Series C, $44.8 Million
- Investors Include: CV Catalyst Fund, Canaan Partners, Greycroft
Fewer and better: these are the two words that Cuyana uses to describe itself. The company encourages people to buy with purpose and to favor quality over quantity. The items for sale are made from materials that are meant to go the distance, but the emphasis is on ensuring that people will wear what they buy so they don’t feel the need to revamp their wardrobe every other month.
3. Trove
- Location: Brisbane, California
- Founder(s): Andy Ruben
- Founded In: 2016
- Funding: Series E, $152.5 Million
- Investors Include: G2 Venture Partners, Prelude Ventures, Wellington Management
Trove partners with major brands to power their resale and trade-in programs. The company provides end-to-end technology and logistics for circular shopping experiences, enabling brands to recapture value from previously sold items. Trove manages the entire resale process, including cleaning, photographing, and listing secondhand items on behalf of its brand partners. Trove’s innovative approach allows established retailers to enter the circular economy efficiently, promoting sustainability while maintaining control over their brand experience in the secondary market.
4. By Rotation
- Location: London, England
- Founder(s): Eshita Kabra
- Founded In: 2019
- Funding: Seed, $3.56 Million
- Investors Include: Sie Ventures, Redrice Ventures, Closed Loop Partners
By Rotation is a peer-to-peer fashion rental platform that allows users to lend and rent designer clothing and accessories directly from each other’s wardrobes through a mobile app. By Rotation aims to promote sustainable fashion consumption by encouraging sharing rather than buying, while also providing users access to high-end fashion at more affordable prices. The platform has gained popularity for its community-driven approach and its focus on reducing waste in the fashion industry by extending the lifespan of clothing items.
5. Vividye
- Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
- Founder(s): Johanna Nissén Karlsson, Gustav Larsson-Utas, Romain Bordes
- Founded In: 2020
- Funding: Seed, $1.41 Million
- Investors Include: Chalmers Ventures, Almi Invest, Yuncture Invest
Keeping clothes for longer is an admirable mission, but it does somewhat ignore the urge people feel to switch things up. Vividye is a company that allows people to alter their clothes, whether in color or design. With reversible dying technology, people can give their old clothes new life, rather than replacing them entirely.
6. Good on You
- Location: Sydney, Australia
- Founder(s): Sandra Capponi, Gordon Renouf
- Founded In: 2015
- Funding: Seed, $200,000
- Investors Include: Plug and Play Tech Center, Farfetch, PDS Ventures
The internet has made it possible for sellers and buyers to connect from every corner of the globe. However, it’s also been a breeding ground for anonymity. How can buyers really know what a company is up to in the shadows? Good on You is a company that only features clothing brands taking great pains to do the right thing. It can be an immense comfort for anyone who doesn’t want to support exploitation.
7. Heat
- Location: London, England
- Founder(s): Joe Wilkinson, Mario Maher
- Founded In: 2019
- Funding: Angel Investment, $5 Million
- Investors Include: Sven Ahrens, Antler, LVMH Luxury Ventures
Heat is a fashion tech startup that offers a personalized shopping experience through mystery boxes curated by stylists. The London-based company aims to revolutionize the way people discover and purchase fashion. Heat’s unique model involves customers filling out a style profile after which they receive a box of carefully selected designer items at a significant discount from retail prices. The startup combines artificial intelligence (AI) with human curation to match customers with trendy, high-end products. This approach offers an element of surprise and excitement to the shopping process while also addressing overstock issues in the fashion industry.
8. Reflaunt
- Location: Singapore
- Founder(s): Felix Winckler, Philippe Benedetti, Stephanie Crespin
- Founded In: 2018
- Funding: Series A, $19.9 Million
- Investors Include: Global Blue, MadaLuxe Group, Ventech China
With so many new brands on the market, the old brands are still important to fashionistas everywhere. Reflaunt is a startup for established companies to resell or recycle their items, which can both reinvigorate the brand with more sustainable qualities and help them reclaim ownership of the secondary market. It’s a win-win on every side of the aisle, and may even encourage fast fashion brands to change their ways.
9. Laws of Motion
- Location: New York, New York
- Founder(s): Carly Bigi
- Founded In: 2017
- Funding: Seed, $6.5 Million
- Investors Include: IrishAngels, Corazon Capital, Leadout Capital
Laws of Motion is an innovative fashion startup that specializes in creating made-to-order clothing, using advanced technology and data science to offer personalized fits. Laws of Motion’s unique approach involves a proprietary sizing algorithm that considers more than 1 million data points to create garments tailored to individual body types. By offering a wide range of sizes (up to 100 size variations per style) and producing items on demand, the startup aims to reduce waste in the fashion industry while providing women with better-fitting clothing. This business model combines sustainability with inclusivity, challenging traditional sizing standards in the fashion world.
10. Renoon
- Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Founder(s): Gabriele Trapani, Iris Skrami, Nicolò Tresoldi, Piero Puttini
- Founded In: 2020
- Funding: Pre-Seed, $1.48 Million
- Investors Include: 500 Global, Angels4Women, Startupbootcamp
When trying to find an outfit for a party, the founder of Renoon was disappointed in the lack of information about the brands she would potentially be buying. This woman-owned business has managed to curate a list of a million items on offer, and the platform allows you to filter based on a number of categories (e.g., pre-owned, carbon-neutral, vegan, etc.). It’s a great way for shoppers to hone in on what they want without having to endlessly search for it.