We started Nuw (previously The Nu Wardrobe) because we love fashion but know the industry has devastating social and environmental impacts. I saw this first hand when volunteering in India in 2013 (the same year as the Rana Plaza disaster). I was angry and frustrated that I had been so complicit in an industry that caused so much harm, and I was heartbroken because I didn’t feel I could enjoy fashion without contributing to the problem.
Still image from The True Cost documentary, 2015
My friend Ali had a similar experience and we talked and talked about it. It felt good to know I wasn’t the only one freaking out about the state of the world and my role in it. We wanted to change our habits but we didn’t have much money and many sustainable alternatives felt like a luxury we couldn’t afford. So, we went in search of an accessible and affordable solution.
Image by Olivia Sainsot-Reynolds
It didn’t take long for us to realise we were already solving the problem in our own way, with the wardrobes we already had. Any time we had an event coming up we’d borrow from friends. Dresses got shared around like pass the parcel at a childhood birthday party and by consequence, those dresses had a pretty vibrant social life (often they had a far better one than me!)
It was this realisation that led us to create Nuw - a social network to share clothes with people in your local community and extend the life cycle of our wardrobes.
The idea was so liberating for us. For every share, we’d find an outfit new to us, that would offset a significant amount of CO2, water and waste in the process. And, it’s all focussed on sharing rather than renting - once you become a member you can borrow clothes for free, the same as sharing with friends - but the whole city is your friend!
Image by Abbie Roden
Finally, we could distance ourselves from an industry that we didn’t feel represented us. Creating our own network and ecosystem in which we could enjoy fashion on our own terms, no longer at the mercy of brands and their inaction in solving the global fast-fashion problem.
Here’s to recognising when things need to change, and to believing that we all have the power to change them. Here’s to Nuw and here’s to you!