we’re shining a light on our circular economy partner AirRobe

Recently, we partnered with AirRobe so you can extend the life of your THE UPSIDE items by re-selling or renting your pieces back into a circular economy, after you’ve worn and loved them.
We sat down with Beth Glancey, Head of Partnerships and General Manager of AirRobe AU/NZ to discuss the importance of the Fashion Industry embracing its role in pro-active sustainability.

 

Q&A

Tell us a little bit about you and how you ended up being the GM at AirRobe? 
Having worked in retail for 15 years, spending the last 8 at LVMH running Benefit Cosmetics and Sephora, I was excited about doing something different. I wanted to be part of creating something from the beginning. I was introduced to Hannon by someone in the industry and I knew very quickly I wanted to be part of the AirRobe revolution. Now I get to work on a business that I love, at the intersection of fashion and tech, that’s doing something positive for the world. How lucky am I!

 

Beauty and Fashion seem worlds apart but what lessons are you taking from your previous roles in beauty and applying them to your new role?
Beauty and fashion are different, but actually the customer is exactly the same. In order to be successful in any business, you need to put the customer at the heart of what you do. Similarly to beauty, at AirRobe we solve customer problems. In beauty it might be uneven skin tone or patchy brows, at AirRobe it’s removing a clunky and old listing process that hasn’t been reimagined in 15 years.  

 

We love that you embrace an active lifestyle, what kinds of things do you get up to during the week?
I’m in love with the outdoors. I have two little boys so spend most of my time weekends outside with them in the park, or at the beach, enjoying the world around us. I love swimming, even more so in winter (the thrill of the cold water). You can find me on my Peloton most mornings.

 

How do you find balance between work and play? Where do you find your calm?
When I walk in the door at home, I activate mum mode! It’s incredibly important to me that I’m present and give my boys the attention they need from me when I’m home – especially being a full time working mum, I don’t get a lot of face time with them during the week. So I ensure the time I do have with them, its quality. My favourite thing to do midweek is melt into the couch with a new Netflix series with my hubby and on weekends, it’s sneaking in a coffee or swimming by myself. You don’t need long on your own to reset! 

Where do you find moments of joy in your busy schedule? What does this look like?

For me, joy is from within, it’s a state. I fill my cup with good coffee, plenty of laughs with my kids and quality time with my husband. Hello date night!


When did AirRobe start?

AirRobe started 2 years ago.


Tell us in a few words how it started, what was the defining moment?
Hannon had a light bulb moment when she was working as a lawyer in a large M&A firm. She was working with a large fashion client when she saw the challenges the industry has with waste and knew there had to be a way to solve it. She set about understanding how she could bring the consumer and the brand together to drive towards circularity. And AirRobe was born.


Are you excited for THE UPSIDE to join AirRobe and why?
We are so excited to see THE UPSIDE join the circular economy with AirRobe. Individually we can all make small changes that have a huge impact on our earth. The Upside has now done their part in making it easy for their customers to re-sell, rent or recycle their garments. What a gift.


Can you explain what a circular economy is and why it’s important for the Fashion Industry to embrace this?
The circular economy is one where we keep garments in use by finding new purposes or homes to extend life. So often now we produce items, wear and discard – however, as a fashion community we can do better by firstly purchasing things we really love and will re-wear, re-use and perhaps even pass down, then once we’ve worn and loved them, we can re-sell or rent, and finally when the garment is at the end of its life we can recycle.

 

How do you use AirRobe and what are the benefits of using it?
When you’re shopping on THE UPSIDE or any of our partner sites, you will be invited to “Add to AirRobe”. By doing so you will save that item and the images to your very own digital wardrobe. The product pictures, description, size, and material and estimated resale value will all be saved so that once you’ve worn and loved the item, you will be able to resell on the AirRobe marketplace – in one easy click! Genius right.


What items should people consider listing?

Everything! We encourage you to add all your purchases to AirRobe. However you’ll start to notice, higher quality, better made garments will retain a higher value in the second hand market. We encourage you to think about this when you make your next purchase. We ask that you invest in considered pieces you really love!  Then once you’ve worn and loved them, you can give that item a new life and home!

 

What is the expected return on garments?
This will vary depending on the brand, material and category of the item. When you are shopping on one of our brand or retailers site, AirRobe will show you the estimated resale value. From there, we’re pretty accurate on estimating how much that item may go on to sell for.

 

What do you hope to achieve  with more people using AirRobe?
We hope that by making the process of selling your items in a pre-loved marketplace SO easy, that we’ll accelerate the fashion industry’s movement towards total circularity and eradicate fashion landfill.

 

Please explain a little about the customer experience you can expect by using AirRobe.
Once you’ve added an item to AirRobe, you will seamlessly be able to re-sell, rent or recycle your item, in one click, on the AirRobe marketplace. From there, all your interactions on the marketplace with buyers and / or sellers will take place in a peer to peer environment. AirRobe’s 7 day customer service team ensures all transactions go ahead smoothly, we mediate all disputes and ensure the integrity of the platform. It’s a white glove service from our end! Try it, you’ll love it.

 

Learn more about AirRobe here.

 

 

Beth Glancey, Head of Partnerships and General Manager of AirRobe AU/NZ

 

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