“When you talk about similar projects, it is often a hindrance that it will cost money for the individual consumer. It is inescapable in this case, too, but the starting point has been \u2013 can we come up with a way that means people are willing to pay twice as much for fashion consumption than before? Today, we see a streaming industry where people pay more per year for their music than they did before, yet they do not own the music. We think that in a similar way, by connecting wardrobes with each other, we can create a wider range of choices for consumers.
It will thus be possible for people to increase their consumption through access to more clothing, but with potentially less environmental impact.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cThrough this system, you could borrow clothes from people close to you, sell them on a secondary market, have them repaired, and some cases even recycled. It will be mean improvement in how clothes are obtained, accessed, and used. Except that it can be much more expensive then,\u201d continues Jonas Larsson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By connecting your clothes, you can connect to others. The vision is that a connected wardrobe can be integrated with social networks and communities where you can exchange or lend your clothes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“One element may be that you are connected to people who have the same size and preferences as yourself on a network. If you have something that they need or vice versa, you can borrow it from each other. This could really create an environment where we live out sustainable consumption,” says Vijay Kumar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Important for circular business models<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
In addition to storing and communicating information about a consumer\u2019s clothing use, other information can also be available through the same connected system: the number of owners, who made the garment, and the material composition of the garment. That\u2019s something important from a commercial perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Both traceability and information transfer will be basic parts of scaling up the circular business models. This applies to to any circular scenario; mend, reuse, or recycle. No matter how you work circularly, such information is important,” says Adrian Zethraeus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, there are still major issues to be resolved before such a system can be launched on the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Being able to store information in a garment can, as Adrian has mentioned, be incredibly important when making the right decision about a garment’s second life. However, there are currently major challenges around data collection when it comes to privacy and GDPR. In order to carry out a project like this, it is necessary to examine things further so that data can be handled securely and correctly. This, together with creating a user-friendly system, will be the biggest challenges for the connected wardrobe,\u201d Jonas Larsson concludes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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