2024-01-06 16:27:06
A clothing store in Amsterdam rents clothes to reduce the fashion industry’s role in pollution
It is normal to find a library that rents its books to anyone who wants to read, but in Amsterdam there is a library of a different kind. It is called the “Clothes Library,” and it includes dresses, jackets, and women’s fashions of all kinds, which it temporarily makes available to those wishing to rent them, in an initiative aimed at reducing the environmental impact of the clothing industry. According to Agence France-Presse, this “clothing library,” which took the name “LENA,” allows its customers to diversify their looks as much as they wish by enabling them to rent high-quality clothes.
Before returning a blouse with blue and white patterns, and instead taking a similar piece of light pink, Ikram Shaker (37 years old) describes the place as “a really good thing.”
This activist in a non-governmental organization continues to come to “Lina” approximately every three weeks, and she is happy that she can constantly renew her wardrobe thanks to the initiative aimed at contributing to achieving sustainability.
Noting in an interview with Agence France-Presse that “many clothes are bought and not worn,” she believes that it is “a very nice way to be able to wear new clothes without depleting the planet.”
The store, located on a busy street in the center of the Dutch capital, offers a diverse collection of hundreds of pieces, which are constantly renewed and are also available for purchase.
On each piece of clothing, a label lists the price, which is often exorbitant, as well as the daily rental allowance, which ranges from 50 cents to a few euros.
Eliza Janssen, who co-founded the initiative in 2014 with her two sisters and a friend, explains, “The fashion sector is one of the most polluting in the world.”
In the era of fast fashion, the average person buys 60 percent more clothes than he did 15 years ago, while keeping each item for half the time he previously kept items, according to the United Nations.
Every second, the equivalent of a garbage truck load of clothing is burned or buried in a landfill, according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
The fashion industry represents a source of a third of toxic microplastics discharged into the oceans, and along with textiles, consumes up to 215 billion liters of water annually, and is responsible for up to 8 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.
The “Clothing Library,” with its warm atmosphere, white brick walls, colorful plants and furniture, seeks to be one of the solutions.
One of the promotional posters states that the store offers “always new clothes.” Good for the planet.” He adds: “Try before you buy.”
The library also makes its collection available online, and has warehouses and delivery centers in other major Dutch cities.
“I’ve always worked in reusing clothes,” Janssen says, especially in clothing stores from bygone eras. But this style is limited, and does not allow the acquisition of new pieces.
She adds: “This is where the idea of sharing clothes in a large common wardrobe arose.”
Each customer pays 10 euros for membership in the store. More than 6,000 women hold membership cards, but the frequency with which they rent clothes varies, according to Janssen.
She confirms that the quality of clothing is “the most important” in choosing the collection, and preference is given to brands that take into account sustainability.
She explains that the store does not contain clothes of what is known as “fast fashion,” which is the trend of buying clothes at a cheap price and then dispensing with them after a short period.
The library founder believes that “the fashion sector is one of the most polluting in the world” (EPA)
The co-founder recalls that her store “was among the first in this field 9 years ago.” She notes that there are other similar initiatives in Scandinavian countries, but regrets that some of them have stopped, and that most of them are mostly online.
She adds: “We have an existing store that you can come to, so it is completely unique.”
She explains that arriving at a profitable formula took a long time, but the initiative in this trendy neighborhood in Amsterdam is convincing, especially among “women between the ages of 25 and 45 who want to make conscious choices, but who understand the importance of being well-dressed.”
Blogger India Donisi, 35, is constantly renting clothes for events.
While trying on a pink jacket, she considers that “the most important feature of (these clothes) is that they are very practical.”
As for Jansen, she hopes that the “Lina” store will inspire brands. “I honestly believe that this is the future,” she says. “We cannot continue to consume and produce in this way.”
“I hope other clothing brands do it themselves… so that there is always an option to rent,” she says.
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