Who says fashion can’t make a big difference in the life of women and girls around the world? In this wonderful technological age we live in where e-commerce has opened up an entire new universe of how businesses are made and run, it has become even easier for brands and products to make a difference in innovative ways.
Based out of Boston, Massachusetts, a company called Fashion Project is leading the way in online charitable re-commerce. No you didn’t read that wrong, RE-commerce is the term. Get familiar.
Founded by two Harvard Law graduates Christine Rizk and Anna Palmer in 2012, Fashion Project’s sole mission is raise as much money for charity as possible and become a force for good. The women and their company have made it even easier for all of us to get involved in charitable works, and you don’t even need to leave your closet. Well maybe to go to the post office.
Here’s how it works: Identify a bunch of clothing and accessories in your wardrobe that you don’t want, and instead of donating them or selling them on ebay, request a donation bag from Fashion Project by going to their website. Before you fill that bag up, make sure you check the company’s list of accepted brands. Don’t worry, they have over 150 brand partners!
March down to your local post office or post box and ship away, it’s free! When Fashion Project receives your item they take a photo and list it for re-sale. Because they are fashion experts they know what the item should retail for and get the most out of the item than, say, a thrift store ever could.
The donor (you) gets an official tax receipt, and after your item gets re-sold, 55% of the proceeds go to a charity of the donor’s choice, a list of which you can also find on the website.
They have many charity partners they work with, and because March is Women’s History Month with the theme being “weaving the stories of women’s lives” it’s only appropriate that all proceeds go to specific charities working to empower women around the US and the world.
Fashion Project may be a relative newcomer to the fashion e-commerce and charity world, but in the space of 3 years they have already left a pretty big footprint in this industry and are showing other brands how it is done.
They have previously partnered with Mercedes Benz Fashion Week to give back to the amfAR foundation for AIDS research, partnered with Neiman Marcus and Nordstroms for special programs, worked with celeb donors such as Chelsea Handler and Heidi Klum, and have even won an award for being the “Hottest Startup” in 2014 by the New England Venture Capital Association’s NEVY awards.
During March they have teamed up with specific women’s charities and organizations in order to raise awareness for their mission, and increase the amount of donations coming through the website.
The first week of march featured Susan G Komen as a charity partner, who work to end breast cancer.
FP also featured particular clothing brands during the month, such as Yosi Samra shoes (March 16-17), the proceeds of which went to The Women’s Lunch Place which provides nutritious meals to women in poverty or who are homeless, Amrita Singh accessories (March 18-19) which benefitted Breast Cancer Research Foundation, and during the final week of March (22-31) will be featuring Studio Samuel as their donation partner.
Essentially Fashion Project is disrupting the existing clothing donation model and making it more beneficial in numerous ways. Roughly $13billion in clothing, shoes and accessories are donated every year in the US, according to the video below, but the majority of these items only get sold for an average of $0.30 to thrift or consignment stores.
In April the team, mostly made up of women (woop woop!) will be launching another exciting initiative, a platform that will allow individual users to hold their own “closet fundraisers” where they tap into their social networks to donate clothing and accessories to their own project.
It’s exciting to see new brands and platforms like this changing the marketplace in innovative yet simple ways. If you want to get involved in Fashion Project’s mission to re-purpose your old wardrobe items and help out a charity at the same time, click here to donate and become part of a force for good.
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