The Miami business looks to change fashion consumption

MIAMI, Florida According to a study conducted by the University of Central Florida, the average person wears about 81 pounds of clothing a year.

In 2017 alone, the United States generated 16,890 tonnes of textile waste and recycled only 2,570 tonnes.

But one Florida business wants to change that.

Rosanna Ceccato has over 15 years of fashion experience. He moved to Miami seven years ago and saw a trend.

Over 80% of women think they have nothing to wear even if their wardrobe is full, and our question is why? asked Ceccato.

Ceccato noticed that women who had expensive clothes usually only wore them once or twice, but they didn’t want to take them off, and they didn’t want to throw them away. Instead, they want their money’s worth.

Women are frustrated because we know if we try to resell these used clothes on second-hand clothing platforms, we’re going to be in for pennies. Even if our clothes have labels attached. So, we prefer to keep clothes in the closet, but the thing is, eventually, those clothes end up in landfills, explains Ceccato.

In 2019, their idea was born. Tucked away in the heart of Miami, Florida, is this shop, Redress. And if you are thinking about selling or renting. You are wrong. This is a new business model that is all about exchanging.

We find people have lots of clothes hanging in their closets but they don’t have any money to pay the rent. Due to the pandemic, people have become smarter.

Ceccato continued, Why don’t you exchange your used clothes for something new to you?

This is a business model that Jennifer Passariello’s longtime customer can get behind.

I’d found it on Instagram and I thought, ‘Oh my god, this is amazing. This is what I usually do because I give my clothes to my family and I exchange with my cousins. Oh, you have a dress you don’t wear? I need this, I need that. So we always swap within family and friends and I thought this was perfect now I have a bigger wardrobe to swap!

The way it works is you go to the Redress site and take a picture of your item. Once approved, you pay $14.99 to have a shipping label sent to you. Once Rosanna and the team receive the package, you’re free to shop from around 2,000 items.

Matias Hercovich said they hoped to increase their inventory to 5,000, but since August 2022, they have made 6,000 exchanges.

Here, you can get up to 90% of the value of your work, not in cash, but in equivalent or even better terms. So, what we offer is a kind of lifestyle. You can wear the clothes you want, in the brands you want, all the time, says Hercovich.

And while this concept is sure to make you look good while helping your wallet, the real win is helping reduce our fashion carbon footprint.

The problem of our consumption, the problem of fast fashion, is global, said Ceccato.

He continued, “In a resell platform, it gives a second life to clothes that are rarely used. In Redress we give eight lives for barely used clothes. So we’re really trying to change the way people consume fashion.