StyleSwipe
Spring 2023 | Sustainable Fashion App | Currently In Development
Embedded Files
Brand Identity | User Research | User Interface Prototyping
THE PROBLEM.
The global fashion and textiles industry is estimated to be responsible for 2-10% of global annual carbon emissions, currently producing well over 1 billion tons of carbon emissions a year. With the rising increases of seasonal trends, fast fashion brands, and unregulated global markets these numbers will continue to grow, and as competing companies rush to mass produce their own versions of the newest and hottest items, competition quickly becomes a race between the biggest and best funded companies to see who can produce items fastest and cheapest, almost always at the expense of the land the items are produced on, and the people involved in the manufacturing process.
Because of this, the fast fashion business model tends to do a great deal of socioeconomic harm. Fashion production companies diminish workers wages by producing garments and textiles for fractions of what they end up selling for, paying workers much less than deserved. This, combined with manufacturers' preferences to produce in disadvantaged nations due to unregulated waste practices contribute to environmental poverty globally.
StyleSwipe was formed to combat the inequalities of fast fashion production and pollution, and works to achieve greater sustainability in creating a circular economy that strives to maintain a product’s value for as long as possible through reuse and regeneration, all while developing a sense of community and connection between its users.
THE PROCESS.
In order to better understand exactly who this service would benefit, a survey was created and sent out to students across the University of Texas. These students were asked general questions about their understanding and accessibility to clothing swaps and different aspects of the circular textile economy. In total 83 responses were received.
It became clear in the survey and our ensuing conversations that many students participated in both thrifting and clothing donating, two essential parts of the circular economy. However, there were no definitive digital alternatives to in-person clothing swaps that our survey sample was familiar with. Many of the students we spoke to weren't familiar with other organized clothing swaps scheduled both on the UT campus, and in nearby areas.
The key insights that we determined from this stage are as follows:
Students enjoy thrifting, donating clothes, and updating their closets for a number of reasons, with the bulk of them being financial and social.
Students are currently unaware of organized clothing swaps in their area.
Students are very much interested in a clothing swap app.
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS.
In order to better understand the use case of StyleSwipe, it became necessary to understand exactly how the market for similar clothing swap apps looked and functioned. Background research was conducted and compiled from various sources of feedback regarding the major apps in the recyclable fashion space. These apps were then plotted on a matrix to better understand how each compared to one another.
To compare the major digital platforms available to consumers I began by separating the services into two groups, clothing swap platforms and used clothing platforms. These differ fundamentally in their style of transaction. Clothing swap apps take items from users on both ends and trade simultaneously, while used clothing apps operate similarly to a typical online storefront, where users choose items they want to buy and offer prices for a final sale. In evaluating the different companies, I noticed that there was a non-existent digital service for swap platforms in North America. These apps typically pop up in Europe and haven't yet expanded westward into the US and other neighboring countries. Additionally, these apps all operate as delivery services, where users send and receive clothing items in the mail. This complicates the process on the business end, forcing the platforms to create and validate shipping logistics between users. This evaluation allowed me to come to the conclusion that there is a market space that could be captured with StyleSwipe and our ideal use case.
ADDITIONAL UPDATES TO COME.
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