About
I designed & co-founded an online thrift and consignment store based on circular fashion. The store, Threads to Tales, is an academic project brought to life. It procures, curates & resells pre-loved clothes at affordable prices, with the final goal of sponsoring the education of an underprivileged child at our partner NGO.
Check out our website and Instagram page! To get in touch with us, you can email us at hello@threadstotales.com.
Role & Skills
Co-Founder, Strategic Design, User Research, Interaction Design, Branding & Visual Design, Marketing, Content Creation, Photography, Finances, Customer Support
Duration
Foundation:
6 months, Jan - Jun 2021
Established:
Jul 2021
Co-Founder
Mentors
Prof. Sharmistha Banerjee & Prof. Shakuntala Acharya, IIT Guwahati
How It All Started
It all started in December 2020, when I was on a call with one of my classmates. We were talking about how we were making do with the 5 pairs of clothes we had brought back home with us from our institute campus, when we were sent home for lockdown. Long story short: we realized that a lot of us have a lot of clothes that go unused/barely used. This gave us an idea - why not try to find a new home for these clothes that we didn’t use/need anymore? Thus the idea for this project was sown.
Naturally.
Learnings from Literature
To validate our assumptions about the need for a thrift store and it's acceptance - we did secondary research in the form of literature review. The main aims of this research were to understand:
1. The Fashion Industry’s Impact on the Environment & the People
10%
of annual global carbon emissions (more than aviation & shipping combined!)
20%
of global water waste
0.5M tons
of plastic microfibers (equivalent to 50 billion plastic bottles!)
98M tons
of non-renewable resources
Additionally, human rights are often compromised when mass production is involved. Women, children, and impoverished people are often exploited through low wages, long hours, hazardous and poor working conditions, etc.
2. Clothing Underutilization and Wastage
$500B
of value is lost annually due to underutilization and lack of recycling
60%
of clothes are thrown away within a year of their purchase
Less than 1%
material used to produce clothing is recycled into new clothing, even though 95% of clothing can be recycled
87%
of the total fibre used for clothing is either landfilled or incinerated
3. The Rise & Future of Thrifting & Resale
Thrifting and buying second-handed clothes used to be looked down upon, but has now become more popular than ever because of the following factors:
Endorsements by celebrities and fashion influencers
Sustainability and eco-friendliness is practiced
Most thrift stores help local charities and the community
One-of-a-kind clothing
Affordable and cheap clothing
Economic uncertainty due to COVID-19
The literature suggests that circular fashion is good for the environment and the people. Thrifting is becoming increasingly popular as it is an affordable alternative and provides one-of-a-kind clothing items. The post-COVID era is expected to see an even greater rise in thrifting and resale, especially in the online mode, due to economic disruption and uncertainty.
Narrowing Down Target Audience
There has been a significant rise of the middle class shopping at thrift stores for clothing.
- As thrifting was introduced into mainstream pop culture, Gen Z and Millennials have been the major groups contributing to the rise of thrifting.
- Sustainability is an important factor while making buying decisions for them, so is affordability. Most of them choose to shop for second-hand or resale items over eco-friendly products from sustainable brands, due to the high appeal of low prices at thrift stores.
- Additionally, this user group would be more likely to shop online because of their relatively higher digital presence.
- Saumya and I belonging to Gen Z was a cherry on top that we believed would help us relate to and understand our (potential) target users and customers better. :)
Due to these reasons, we narrowed down our target audience to environmentally conscious young individuals shopping on a budget.
Understanding the Indian Context
The insights from the Secondary Research helped structure and plan the Primary Research. It consisted of an online survey mainly directed towards Indian teens & young adults.
Key Objectives of Survey
1. To check whether people are aware of and accepting of the concept of thrifting and resale in India.
2. To find out what people look for in a piece of clothing, and the frequency of their shopping.
3. To find out how the online thrifting experience could be made better.
4. To understand if people would be willing to donate (for benefits - and what kind of benefits?) their clothes for resale.
Responses
We received 266 responses, 233 (87.6%) of which were from the the age group: 18-24 years.
Over 95% of the respondents in this age group are willing to give their unneeded clothes to be sold at a cheaper price. This makes it evident that it will be easier to source clothes from this age group, for this age group.
Selecting Target Audience
Further categorisation into females and males helped us distinguish between two potential user groups. It revealed that 18-24 year old females are a lot more receptive to the concept of thrifting and have an inclination towards buying from online thrift stores, when compared to the males of the same age group. Females also showed greater interest in donating their unneeded clothes for resale.
Hence, the final target audience was decided to be environmentally conscious college-going Indian females shopping on a budget.
Shopping Preferences & Priorities of College-Going Indian Females
The survey revealed what college-going Indian females look for in a piece of clothing (1 being the highest priority, and 5 being the lowest):
1
FITTING
2
PRICING
3
BRAND VALUE
4
MATERIAL COMFORT
5
LOW CARBON FOOTPRINT
The survey helped us understand what features would be valued in a thrift store by this user group. These features are not only attractive to current thrifters, but also to people who have been skeptical about thrifting so far.
HIGH PRIORITY FEATURES
- Easy returns
- Accurate product descriptions
- Multiple product images
- Positive customer reviews
MEDIUM PRIORITY FEATURES
- Profits used for a good cause
- Trending clothing options
- Good website/app
- Good store aesthetic
LOW PRIORITY FEATURES
- Knowing the owner
- Number of social media followers
Designing the Business Model
The final model operates in a fairly simple manner.
-
People donate their pre-loved clothes to the store to get discounts and other benefits.
-
These clothes are segregated and sorted into 2 sections - resellable clothes and clothes for direct donation.
-
The resellable clothes are then curated, washed, priced, measured, and photographed. Post this, they are put up on the website for resale at affordable prices.
-
Marketing is done on Instagram & e-mailing for those who subscribe.
-
People may find us on Instagram or the website, look through our products and buy what they like.
-
The product is then be packaged with freebies and shipped to the buyer.
-
Profits from the sales sponsor education of one child at NeoFusion Creative Foundation NGO.
Test Clothing Collection Drive
The Experiment
Aim: To test people's willingness to donate unneeded clothes for resale.
Location: IIT Guwahati
Sample: IITG female students
Duration: 3 days (26-28 March 2021)
Mode of spreading word: Google form, mails, posters
Mode of collection: Door-to-door collection
The Outcome
The test drive was a success with the collection of 350+ clothes, around 200 of which were categorized by us as 'resellable' and the rest to be donated directly to NGOs.
With the resellable pieces of clothing, 22 exciting collections consisting of 180+ clothes in all were made.
UPDATE:
As of September'21, we've launched 8 collections. Take a look at them! ->
The Identity
The Name
The main objective of this passion project has been to find a home for pre-loved clothes. We hope that these threads can help the shoppers and sellers make their own tales. The profits aim to support underprivileged children in creating their own unique tales as well :)
Visual Moodboard
Colours
Typography
Graphik
SANS-SERIF
Lora Italic
SERIF
bebas kai
CONDENSED
SCRIPT
Yeseva One
Cranslime
DISPLAY
Logo Ideation
The Final Logo
Hug ◾ Smile ◾ Embrace ◾ Warmth ◾ Love ◾ Circular (Fashion) ◾ Fluidity
The Website
Information Architecture
All major pages can be accessed easily from the homepage.
Sign Up/ Log In
The footer houses all important sections and also includes the store's Instagram, FAQs, order tracking, store and privacy policies, feedback, and relevant contact information.
Before we launched our first clothes collection, we asked the audience to guess to what it would be, and people gave some really cool replies!
All information regarding how & why users should sell their clothes to us is given here.
Users can view and shop collections on this page. Every time a new collection is launched, a banner appears above the product catalogue. Filters have been set according to insights generated while understanding the shopping preferences and priorities of our target audience. User can 'quickly view' any product in the form of a pop-up, and can click anywhere on the product picture and description to go to the product page.
Product Page
Our research helped us understand that users prioritized and were most concerned about the fitting of the clothes. Such details, in addition with condition, brand, materials, multiple model + product images have been included on this page. Any defects in the item of clothing are also mentioned here.
Cart & Checkout
The Inventory
Curating Collections
With the resellable pieces of clothing we received from the clothes campus collection drive, 22 collections (consisting of a total of 180+ clothes) were curated. With 4 collection launches scheduled per month, this inventory would last us for over 5 months. The Collections are based on fictional characters, occasions, product type, colours and themes, etc.
UPDATE: In 2 months (July-August), we launched 8 collections; one collection per week. 4 were based on fictional characters, and the remaining 4 were based on product type.
TV SHOW CHARACTERS
1. Rachel Green (F.R.I.E.N.D.S)
2. Veronica Lodge (Riverdale)
3. Lorelai Gilmore (Gilmore Girls)
4. Casey Gardner (Atypical)
PRODUCT TYPE
1. All Things Denim
2. Life is Short (Pun Intended)
3. Shirts to Die For
4. Spillin' the Tee
Photographing Collections
Each collection has 6-12 clothing items. Model and product photography for each product is done before the collection launch, and each collection has a different theme. Making moodboards, clicking photos and experimenting with the shots has been fun :)
On the Website
Here is a glimpse of what each collection drop looked like on the website. Weekly updates are made to the home and shop pages, during each collection launch.
Collections & Marketing
We decided to use Instagram as our marketing platform given the fact that our target audience uses this platform extensively. All content and creatives that we create aim at audience engagement and spreading awareness. We follow a 3-part content plan which includes posts of 3 kinds:
Weekly collections, related hype, giveaways, sales, etc
Posts targeted at raising awareness about thrifting and circular fashion
Behind the scenes, sharing struggles, failures and success stories
We try to keep our content as appealing to the target audience. This often comes in the form of trending reels and posts to engage our audience. We try to maximize our usage of Instagram features and collaborate with other stores for giveaways, etc. Future plans include collaborating with fashion influencers and other content creators.
Love & Feedback We've Received
We have received support in so many ways; and by that I do not mean just the purchases, but also the love, appreciation, feedback, and motivation. We have a long way to go and this keeps us going on the hard days :)
Our Turn To Share The Love :)
We have partnered with the NeoFusion Creative Foundation NGO. They do an amazing job at educating and supporting underprivileged children by acting as a catalyst in their overall development and skill-building. They use innovative and engaging methods to do the same, with a strong focus on creative arts.
The profits Threads to Tales receives from sales help sponsor the education of one child at the NGO, and we feel extremely happy to be able to do our small part :)
How It's Going
It's been a few months, and the experience has been like no other. With tasks ranging from website upkeep to handling finances, inventory creation to packaging, and photography to content creation, it is indeed a 24/7 job. We meet up 2-3 times every week to discuss, ideate, and execute. Here's a glimpse of our monthly and weekly to-do lists.
Monthly To-Dos
- Brainstorming collections
- Financial tally
- Donation at partner NGO
- Updating policies
- Brainstorming marketing strategies
- Analysing metrics
- Setting targets for the next month
Weekly To-Dos
- Defining collection visual style + marketing style
- Planning & executing photoshoots
- Product naming, styling, pricing, and measuring
- Website landing page and shop page updates
- Content for marketing
- Packaging and shipping orders
Metrics
(as of 30 Aug 2021)
2
months
16/51
clothes sold
360+
Instagram followers
2246
website sessions
1402
unique visitors
37m 58s
average session
Struggles, Challenges & Moving Forward
Work Management
From photoshoots to website maintenance, marketing to customer support, and logistics to handling finances; the 2 of us have been doing it all and we know it is not a sustainable way to continue.
To tackle this, we need to bring more people on board, which would require us to identify what relevant skills and growth opportunities we can give said people out of this. Moving on this vertical ladder towards a more managerial role is a daunting challenge that we hope to solve in the near future.
Prioritizing Right
A lot of our time goes into the pre-launch stage of the collection, and we realized that we have been focusing less on marketing and customer conversion - factors crucial to making sales. Our journey so far has helped us identify such areas that need more attention.
Increasing Our Reach
One big thing that was missing from our current model was collaborating with other creators, influencers or thrift stores, to increase our audience base. We recently collaborated for a giveaway with 7 other small businesses and the outcome was pretty great, however, it could've been better. Our insights on Instagram also tell us that our graph became saturated very fast. This calls for further experimentation and engagement by making better use of the chosen platform.
Working Remotely
With the second wave of the pandemic at its peak when we launched the store, we were forced to work remotely at our homes, 600 km away from one another. This made quite a few things difficult to execute: decision making, new collection curations, photoshoots, Instagram engagement, etc. Although now, after 4 months, we're back to college and are able to work together, we need to be prepared if such a scenario were to happen again, especially once we expand our team.
My Reflection & Takeaways
Doing something different doesn't have to be scary: Everything can be an experiment, succeeding isn't the goal, and failing can teach you more than you might think.
Partnership, sharing ideas, and making compromises: Finding someone who has a similar vision and dedication to the project is a must for a good partnership. Sharing ideas, debating, and making compromises are all a part of working with someone, and if at the end of the day you're happy and can't remember the compromises you made, you know it's a win!
Taking on a multitude of roles: As part of a team of two, handling all fronts of this project has pushed me to figure out how different parts of an organisation work together in chaotic tandem. From designing to establishing the store, handling finances to marketing, I got the chance to dive deep into roles outside of my comfort zone, and learnt a lot in the process.