MIAMI, Fla. — According to a study done by the University of Central Florida, the average person uses about 81 pounds of clothing a year.
In 2017 alone, the United States produced 16,890 tons of textile waste and only recycled 2,570 tons of it.
But one Florida business is looking to change that.
Rosanna Ceccato has over 15 years of fashion experience. She moved to Miami seven years ago and noticed a trend.
“More than 80% of women think that they have nothing to wear even if their wardrobes are packed, and the question we had was why?” asked Ceccato.
Ceccato noticed women who own top dollar garments typically only wear them once or twice, yet they don’t want to give them up, and they don’t want to dump them. Instead, they want their money’s worth.
“Women are frustrated because we know if we try to resell these barely used garments in secondhand apparel platforms, we are going to receive pennies. Even if our garments have tags attached. So, we prefer to keep garments in the closet, but the thing is, at the end of the day, they are going to end up in landfills,” explained Ceccato.
In 2019, their idea was born. Tucked away in the heart of Miami, Florida, is this store, Redress. And if you think it’s about selling or renting. You’re wrong. It’s a new business model that’s all about swapping.
“We discovered people have a lot of garments hanging in their closets but they didn’t have money to pay for their rent. Because of the pandemic, people became more smart.”
Ceccato continued, “Why don’t you swap your barely used garments to swap for another garment that is new to you?”
It’s a business model that longtime customer Jennifer Passariello could get behind.
“I had found her on Instagram and I thought, 'Oh my god this is amazing. This is what I normally do because I give my clothes away to my family and I swap with my cousins. Oh, you have a dress you’re not using? I need this, I need that.’ So, we always swap within family and friends and I thought this is perfect now I have a bigger closet to swap with!”
How it works is you go to the Redress website and take a picture of your item. Once it’s approved, you pay $14.99 to have a shipping label sent to you. Once Rosanna and the team receive the package, you are free to shop from the roughly 2,000 items.
Matias Hercovich said they are hoping to grow their inventory to 5,000, but since August of 2022, they have done 6,000 swaps.
“Here, you can get up to 90% of the value of your piece, not in money, but in the equivalent or even better piece. So, what we are offering is sort of a lifestyle. You can dress in the clothes you want, with the brands you want, constantly,” shared Hercovich.
And while this concept is sure to make you look good while helping your wallet, the real win is helping to reduce our fashion carbon footprint.
“The problem of our consumption, the problem of fast fashion, is global,” stated Ceccato.
She furthered, “In the resell platforms, these platforms gave a second life to barely used garments. At Redress we are giving eight lives to a barely used garment. So we are really trying to change the way people consume fashion.”
