Save Your Wardrobe, a British platform dedicated to circular wardrobe management, raised $3 million in seed funding in July 2022. Led by founder Hasna Kourda, the company will use these funds to accelerate its European expansion (UK, Germany, France), structure its B2B offering with partners like Zalando, and evolve its products and technology.
Fast fashion under regulatory and cultural pressure
The market context is favorable. According to a study by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the textile industry generates more than 92 million tonnes of waste per year worldwide. In Europe, each consumer buys around 26 kg of clothing per year and throws away 11 kg, most of which ends up in landfill or is incinerated. The EU strategy for sustainable textiles, adopted in March 2022, aims to make textile products sustainable by 2030, with repairability and recycling requirements.
In France, the AGEC law of 2020 already introduced the obligation to disclose how long spare parts will remain available, along with a textile repair fund (operated by Refashion). Germany and the UK are following suit with similar schemes. This regulatory pressure opens the door wide for platforms capable of orchestrating circularity on a day-to-day basis.
The Save Your Wardrobe model
The Save Your Wardrobe platform gives consumers a digital wardrobe where they can catalog their clothes, plan how they use them, and access related services: alterations, repairs, cleaning, upcycling, resale, and donation. The company aggregates a network of local providers (tailors, alteration specialists, cobblers) and delivers an integrated experience, with home pickup and delivery in several major European cities.
The B2B model, still taking shape at the time of the fundraise, consists of offering brands (DTC and major retailers) a white-label infrastructure for circular after-sales services. The partnership with Zalando, Europe's largest fashion e-commerce player, validates this approach: consumers can order repair services directly from the Zalando interface.
Hasna Kourda, a founder with a purpose-driven profile
Hasna Kourda, founder and CEO, is a leading figure in the sustainable fashion movement in the UK. A graduate in luxury management, she founded Save Your Wardrobe in 2017 after observing how inefficient the repair and second-hand ecosystem was for the end consumer. She was recognised in Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe and has collaborated with several European public initiatives on textile circularity.
Competitors and positioning
- Vestiaire Collective: European leader in premium second-hand, valued at over €1 billion.
- Vinted: the benchmark for mass-market C2C, and a European decacorn.
- Reskinned (UK), Tilli (UK), Sojo (UK): startups that aggregate repair and alteration services.
- Tilkah / Stuffstr: buy-back platforms offered white-label to retailers.
Save Your Wardrobe stands out through its positioning as an infrastructure platform rather than a resale marketplace. The company does not capture the peer-to-peer resale transaction, but monetises the services tied to the garment lifecycle (repair, care, donation). This complementary approach to second-hand marketplaces allows it to avoid head-on competition with Vinted or Vestiaire.
The circular textile services market
According to a BCG study published in 2023, the circular fashion market (resale, repair, rental) was worth around $100 billion worldwide in 2022 and could reach $350 billion by 2030, with annual growth of 15 to 20%. The repair segment, historically underinvested, shows the fastest growth potential, driven both by regulatory pressure and by voluntary adoption among Gen Z consumers.
Fashion brands have a clear interest in integrating these services for three reasons: regulatory compliance, customer retention (a customer who repairs stays tied to the brand), and recurring revenue opportunities. Save Your Wardrobe is positioning itself as the software infrastructure for this transition.
How the $3M will be used
The company has indicated it will allocate the seed funding to four priorities:
- European expansion: consolidation in the UK, rollout in Germany and France.
- Team growth: strengthening the product and technology functions.
- B2B offering: scaling brand and retailer partnerships.
- Platform: improvements to the user experience and to the integration of local service providers.
Further reading for the French ecosystem
France is a strategic market for Save Your Wardrobe, with its AGEC regulatory framework, its eco-organization Refashion, and its leading retailers (Decathlon, Galeries Lafayette, Le Slip Français) already engaged in circular programs. French fashion brands are among the most active in Europe when it comes to repair and second-hand, with initiatives such as Refashion Week or Vestiaire Collective's partnerships with Mulberry and Burberry. The arrival of an infrastructure player like Save Your Wardrobe can accelerate this momentum.
For growth operators in retail, this type of platform illustrates the shift from a transactional acquisition model to an extended Customer Lifetime Value model: a customer who repairs their clothes through a brand interacts several times a year and grows more attached. Our growth marketing expertise covers how to structure these retention-focused post-purchase journeys.
FAQ
How much has Save Your Wardrobe raised?
Save Your Wardrobe raised $3 million in seed funding in July 2022.
What does Save Your Wardrobe do?
Save Your Wardrobe is a British circular wardrobe management platform. It connects consumers, tailors and brands to offer repair, cleaning, upcycling, resale and donation services.
Who founded Save Your Wardrobe?
Save Your Wardrobe was founded in 2017 by Hasna Kourda (CEO), named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list.
What are Save Your Wardrobe's priority markets?
European expansion focuses on three markets: the United Kingdom (its home market), Germany and France. A partnership with Zalando underpins the B2B offering across Europe.
How big is the circular fashion market?
The global circular fashion market was estimated at around $100 billion in 2022 according to BCG, and could reach $350 billion by 2030, with annual growth of 15 to 20%.