UK's first peer-to-peer menswear rental platform

Aim

We are looking for your support to launch the U.K.'s first peer-to-peer menswear rental platform, for clothing that deserves a Second Outing

How Did the Idea Come About?

Second Outing came to life last year after a discussion between two childhood friends, turned founders, James and Gavin. Understanding fashion's heavy footprint on the planet, and seeing the success of womenswear rental platforms such as ByRotation and Hurr Collective, we couldn't believe there was no one offering this kind of exciting, circular fashion alternative for people like ourselves... Enter Second Outing! 

Our vision is to provide a competitive solution to the overconsumption of throwaway fast fashion, by making designer menswear more accessible.

As sustainability in fashion becomes a mainstream conversation and concern, we believe now is the perfect time to pave the way for the men's clothing rental market. Unlike greenwashed messages from fast fashion brands, fashion rental is a genuinely more sustainable way to consume clothing because it uses a circular model that keeps resources in use for as long as possible. 

The most sustainable way to consume is to use what we already have. For example, if we extend the lifespan of our clothing by a further 9 months, we can reduce carbon, waste and water footprints by 20-30%, according to Fashion Revolution. Just imagine how much difference we could make if we challenge the menswear consumer to think twice before buying new and offer an affordable alternative...

With long-term personal interests in fashion, we see designer clothing as an investment, due to the lasting quality that comes with the price tag. We want to encourage lenders to make a return on their investments by sharing items within a trusted community. We also want to take our users on the journey of how to care for their clothes, from garment care to upcycling, to prevent some of the £140 million worth of clothes that go to landfill per year from the U.K. alone (Greenpeace, 2019).

In Good Company?

Over the past year, we have seen brands as iconic as Gucci go 'seasonless', and Selfridges partner with womenswear clothing rental company Hurr Collective, as part of their circular fashion commitments.  

Like them, we realise that a more considered, circular approach is the way to tackle issues of overproduction and overconsumption in the fashion industry.

How Does It Work?

As a peer-to-peer rental platform, we connect a community of users looking to rent and lend pre-loved designer menswear. Whether it's for an event, weekend wear, holiday or photoshoot, whatever the occasion, we will offer a platform for you to find high-end alternatives that help you look and feel your best. 

The Second Outing platform is launching 19th April and will be available via our website and app. 

Essentially, the rental service functions similarly to AirBnB, so you can find an item you like and choose a period of time on the calendar that you wish to rent it for. When the booking is accepted, the owner prepares the item for you to wear, and you return when the rental period is finished. It's as simple as that!

We place a strong emphasis on trust and community, which is why we encourage users to review their experience after each transaction. The messaging system on the website allows users to contact each other to arrange bookings directly.

On social media, we plan to share users that feature Second Outing in their posts. This way our community has the power to spread the rental revolution message and influence the future of sustainable fashion.

To help maintain and develop the platform, we charge a service fee of 15% per transaction on the side of the lender and lendee for rentals, in line with leading womenswear platforms. Purchases through the website are charged a service fee of 10% on the side of the seller, similarly to Depop and eBay. This makes the platform a very competitive option within the clothing rental and re-sale market.

Who Does Second Outing Benefit?

Let's think of it in three ways: the lender, the lendee, and the planet.

Lenders- Lending allows you to make an income and give a new life to your sought after pieces by giving others the chance to wear them. 

Lendees- Wear designer pieces without paying designer prices. Rent from trusted users for a period of time that suits you. 

Planet- Reduce the eye-watering amount of textile waste (roughly 39 million tonnes worldwide!) that consumers send to landfill each year. 

Buying new can be a difficult habit to break, but we want to make it that bit easier by making the alternative affordable and truly sustainable because looking good shouldn't cost the Earth.

Current Business Progress:

After we began working on the idea since Jan 2020, we have worked tirelessly on the side of our full-time jobs to bring Second Outing to life, overcoming various obstacles along the way. Our initial plan was to launch in May last year, but true to the unpredictability of 2020, we were forced to push the launch back to this April.

So far, we have invested our personal savings into the company, with most of this going towards a professionally made website and strong brand identity. However, as two young professionals, we realise that there is a limit to how much we can grow without the help of outside investment. This is why we have chosen to reach out to the brilliant Crowdfunder community who share our vision of a more sustainable future for fashion!

With your help, we hope to take our exciting start-up business a step closer to becoming the go-to sustainable alternative for men's fashion in the U.K and Europe.

How Will We Utilise Donations?  

Any amount you give will be hugely appreciated, and will contribute towards our current main focus areas of: 

• Marketing and P.R. - We have done a lot of research over the past year and are confident that we are tapping into an up-and-coming market. The challenge now is targeting and converting the right audience to become part of the community. Your donations will help us partner with a P.R. professional, who can help promote our business to the desired audience. 
• Social Media - Being able to reach our desired audience via social media is a huge priority, therefore partnering with influencers and brand ambassadors will be key for us to spread the message. Informative visual content is also key for our brand. We have outsourced our initial Instagram content to a professional, which is something we would love to continue doing.
• Photoshoots - To keep our content looking fresh and engaging we wish to enlist creatives such as photographers, videographers and models to provide engaging imagery and videos. 
• Inventory - Although the benefits of clothing rental are clear, one criticism can be the excessive dry-cleaning involved. Taking this on board, we are looking to stock eco-friendly cleaning solutions to reduce the frequency of dry-cleaning garments. We also have plans to provide eco-friendly, branded packaging on our website to simplify the process for our customers, whilst maintaining the luxury experience. 

If you are interested in knowing more or listing your wardrobe, we'd love to hear from you at [email protected]

You can also follow us on Instagram/Facebook/Twitter and sign up to our newsletter to see the latest from our journey.

Thank you for reading and donating!

This project closed unsuccessfully on 12th April 2021