Jasmin Huber: You don’t need fast fashion to distract you from you
Jasmin (31) ★ lives in Vienna -> founder of WeDress, your online collective closet —> Jasmin’s fashion rental platform changes the way we dress and creates an inclusive fashion world ✗ currently available in Vienna, Berlin, Munich and Hamburg
What are your values? Not sure? Thinking hard… Well, Jasmin Huber, owner of fashion rental platform, We Dress Collective, places fairness as her highest value. Everything that she does always comes back to that element of fairness.
Fashion is her passion, but she never really identified herself with the values of the fashion industry. “This is why I never choose to work in this very, sorry to say, superficial environment,” explains Jasmin. What she did is so super powerful because instead of giving up on her passion she found her way into the fashion world on her own terms.
She created WeDress, a start-up that changes consumption while enabling everyone to satisfy their fashion needs without a negative environmental impact. Through WeDress you can rent high-end fashion items and maybe even create a friend or two. They operate locally, exchanges are made face-to-face or via environmentally friendly delivery services with minimum packaging involved.
How did you come up with the idea of sharing high fashion clothing?
“I became vegetarian when I was 14 years old. Back then it was unusual and led to lots of discussions. It was also the time I found out that fairness dominates my value system. Over time, I understood that I can give this value more time. The nice thing about being an adult is that you decide how you spend your time.
Nevertheless, I was a high fashion consumer until the collapse of a garment factory 10 years ago. Then I started to question my actions. I stopped buying fast fashion and dove into sustainable fashion. But in 2013 there weren’t very many choices and my hunger for fashion was still strong. What now? So, I became a vintage and second hand hunter. My actions were thought through, but I was still buying. One day in 2017, I was standing in my very full wardrobe and thinking why there wasn’t a platform where you could borrow clothes and give the items the appreciation that they deserve.”
“More and more, I started to think that I needed to do my own thing because nobody else would. And that’s when WeDress was born.”
“I started to think that I needed to do my own thing because nobody else would.”
Clothing for Jasmin is not something that you just put on every morning and take off every evening. Clothing is the way you express yourself. Fashion creates a feeling and the pieces that you wear help you to express who you are or who you want to be. So, the first WeDress campaign was all about feelings and freely expressing oneself.
“Whatever you put on sends a statement and it applies for all of us. There is always a statement. You can’t NOT send a statement,” explains Jasmin and adds: “So, even if you say I don’t care, you care but in a different way.”
The “We Dress to Express” campaign features five very different women and their approach to fashion. For Canel, a Turkish-German model and artist, fashion is loud. She grew up in an environment where she could not express herself. Britt, a famous Berlin personality, who lives her golden years during her 70’s, dresses for to lighten up her day and everyone’s around her. Laura, an author in a wheelchair, needs her fashion to be calm, simple and quiet. Her days are full of challenges, so in fashion, she seeks safety, security and calmness.
“All these women wear more than their clothes, they wear their values.”
Why is it important to change our thinking from selling and buying to sharing and renting?
“First of all it’s important to appreciate what we have and give away what we don’t appreciate. While renting our items we might find a second relationship with them. Just the simple trick of seeing them on someone else can do that. It’s funny how us humans work sometimes.
I think we all agree that things need to change and our consumption patterns need to change. But there is a long way from theory to action. I don’t expect women to have empty wardrobes. But we need to start understanding our consumption mix better. Meaning, I can buy second hand and also rent items I need only for special occasions . Renting also allows me to try new styles that I am not sure about and it’s always cheaper than owning.”
We Dress creates lifestyle and a feeling around you, not just giving you an item. Humans want to show their individuality and socialize often using fashion as a tool to make it happen, but it all can be done without unattainable consumption.
“WeDress creates lifestyle and feeling around you not just giving you an item.”
Jasmin founded We Dress only weeks before the first lockdown. “You are a founder with a vision, but the problem you want to solve is gone. We are all sitting home in our sweatpants doing yoga and who knows what else.”
That’s when Jasmin stopped working on her product and focused on building her community. WeDress is a digital platform with a great community impact and face-to-face exchange.
How does renting actually work and what are the risks?
“I think that we all know that feeling when you rented something and it was returned to you in a bad condition. So, of course, people are worried, but I came to the point that I am happy that you asked. Our terms and conditions cover you and our community is trustworthy.
We are a digital company, but at the end, we are a people business. Our customers meet in person to exchange the items. It’s not like renting a scooter and mistreating it. Here you actually meet the person. Of course, accidents can always happen. But why not allow yourself the pleasure of a new experience, instead of thinking about problems that might or might not happen?
Otherwise, it’s very simple: pick the item, arrange the meeting — ideally on a bike and use packaging that you already have at home. I am a renter and lender myself and I’ve never had a bad experience. It’s more about people’s mindsets and approaches to risk. We are a digital platform with a very trustworthy community that interacts face-to-face. How awesome is that?”
Jasmin has a real relationship with fashion that goes very deep. She maybe wishes that she had listened to her inner voice a bit sooner. You don’t need fast fashion to distract you from you. Her favorite wardrobe piece is a good dress. “A good dress will do so much for your body and it’s the easiest item for people that are not that creative with fashion,” explains Jasmine.
You don’t need fast fashion to distract you from you.
So, Jasmin, do you feel successful?
“I feel successful. To be honest, from a business sense, we are not reaching any big renting number just yet. I was trying to find new success factors in order to understand that we are evolving, learning and growing because that’s success to me. Success is being able to understand that you need to change over time. For me, success is to put my ego behind. This is when you get truly successful because it’s not only about the money, but about spreading an important message.”