Minimalism and Our Closet
In the last few years, minimalism has become our lifestyle: "If you own less, it's richer." Minimal Life is a term created by the transition of ‘minimalism’ to everyday life, which refers to the artistic and cultural flow that pursues simplicity and conciseness. It refers to a way of life that tries to be faithful to one's inner life, and be happier through a lifestyle that minimizes the acquisition of unnecessary things. The key is not just a simple theorem, but a re-evaluation of the meaning of ownership. As the number of minimalists increases, various services have started emerging. One of them provides innovative services that enable us to make money while practicing minimalism related to clothes, one that we can relate to the most. When you look at your closet, you might have thought, "There are plenty of clothes, but there are no clothes to wear," and "I need to clean up my closet." I would like to introduce a start-up platform that can solve these closet mysteries.
Closet Sharing Platform, ‘Closet Share’
There are start-ups that have moved quickly, believing that the minimalism craze is not a once-ina-lifetime trend, but a path toward constant change. It is ‘Closet Share’, a closet sharing platform. If you look around the house, one of the largest areas is devoted to clothing. Considering the area occupied by clothes that are not easily accessible, but cannot be discarded at the price of housing per square meter, minimalism is not a matter of choice. ‘Closet Share’ is literally a platform that allows you to share your closet. You can borrow clothes, and you can lend others clothes that you don't wear. There have been companies that lend clothes or luxury bags online and offline, but it is the first time in Korea to have members share fashion with each other. Furthermore, if you choose the monthly subscription service, you can pick up a set number of new clothes and bags each month, and even laundry and mending issues can be solved immediately. You can also purchase membership tickets and borrow them freely within a given number of times a month, or borrow only one pair on a special day with a short-term pass. The generated profits are shared by the company and the sharers. In turn, they can dispose of clothes they don't wear to clean up the space and make money. The main customer base of the subscription service consists of 2,540 office workers, most of whom work at large companies or are professionals.
Special Distinctions of ‘Closet Share’
Fashion Sharing Business Model Patent
‘Sung Joo-hee’, CEO(chief executive officer) of ‘The Closet Company’, got a patent on this platform as a ‘fashion sharing business model’, stating that the closets are shared with each other. It is very rare to obtain a patent for a business model, since it is not a type of technology, and it’s different from the commonly known used trading platform. When customers who want to share their clothes start sending them, they carefully examine the clothes and decide whether to accept them or not. Then, the successfully accepted products are presented on the platform after they are washed and their pictures have been taken. When another customer requests for a rental, the goods stored at the logistics center are packaged and delivered, collected at the end of the rental period, washed again, and then stored at the logistics center again. All these processes are done mostly by automatic systems, not by human hands.
Making Money by Sharing
‘Closet Share’ is operating a ‘making profits from my closet’ service that helps customers share their products by going a step further from simply lending clothes and bags. If you apply for a share as a possible brand, you will get a package that allows you to put clothes into your home. If you ask for a pick-up, you can collect it for free. It is a structure in which items are inspected, compensation prices are set, and customers are asked about how their sales intentions and profits accumulate when rental starts. If revenue is generated, it can be withdrawn like cash, and if the sharer wants to sell, it also acts as a secondhand sales agent. One of the sharers who topped the list of accumulated profits from ‘Closet Share’ to clothing-tech made 18.4 million won.
Their Move forward
The social atmosphere is changing, with many people moving away from the owning economy, and toward sharing environmental issues and pursuing a minimal lifestyle. Change means opportunities for start-ups. ‘Closet Share’ was a start-up that captured lifestyle changes, or minimalism, early on, and created services that have never existed before. They have taken the opportunity to become a platform to rule lifestyles. In the future, ‘Closet Share’ wants to preoccupy the second-hand market for women's clothing, and to expand its categories toward building rental services beyond clothes. Their ultimate goal is to create a world without closets. They are dreaming of a world where you don't need a suitcase to hold clothes when you travel. If you order clothes, you can get them at hotels anywhere in the world, and even return them.
