Earth Month may have just ended, but P180 has launched an e-commerce concept that puts the focus squarely on sustainability. The new enterprise co-founded by industry veteran Brendan Hoffman and CaaStle CEO Christine Hunsicker has joined forces with elysewalker on a collection, Borrow by elysewalker, featuring styles that are available to rent for up to 14 days. From there, shoppers can then decide whether they would like to return the garments or purchase them to keep. A sampling of brands included in the launch are A.L.C., Alex Perry, A.W.A.K.E. MODE, Dorothee Schumacher, Nanushka, and Rhode.
“Our clients come to us for our edited point of view, and to help them find a wardrobe that fits her lifestyle,” Elyse Walker, founder of the eponymous luxury fashion retailer, exclusively tells ELLE.com. “Borrow by elysewalker allows us to reach a client who is interested in new brands and wants to explore trends. She can now experiment with new brands or styles without the commitment, and with the freedom to keep what she loves and send back what she doesn’t.”
Walker and her team worked closely with P180 to implement CaaStle’s technology onto her website. The first step was introducing the Clothing as a Service (CaaS) model, which offers borrowable pieces that cycle out so customers can be introduced to new items each month. CaaStle also handles the shipping and sanitizing of the clothing, so that renters and buyers can try out new styles with ease, as well as the comfort of knowing that what they are trying on is clean and chemical-free. Not to mention, there’s the obvious sustainability component: “[CaaStle’s] technology allows our product offering to have a longer lifespan, which will in turn benefit our clientele,” Walker adds.
elysewalker’s retail site.
After 25 years of brick-and-mortar growth and collaboration with brands, Walker found the opportunity to partner with CaaStle and P180 very compelling. “We’re really honing in on an area that is often wasteful within the industry: the markdown cycle,” she says. “P180 has the ability to increase the value of the brands we invest in and change the shelf life of our inventory.”
To shop the Borrow by elysewalker collection, visit elysewalker.com/collections/borrow.