In the world of luxury fashion, Sarah Garner was no stranger. With over a decade of experience in the industry, she was well-acquainted with its inner workings. However, when she became a mother, her perspective on her role in fashion began to shift.
She yearned for a more purposeful path within the industry, one that offered solutions rather than merely chasing trends. Garner encountered a problem shared by many parents – what to do with the ever-evolving wardrobes of their growing children.
It was this dilemma that inspired her to create Retykle, a circular solution tailored for products inherently prone to obsolescence and designed for shorter lifespans with their initial owners.
“I started the platform from the point of view of the user and knew that our solution needed to solve this problem for parents in the simplest and most hassle-free way,” said Garner in an interview with e27.
Retykle’s mission: Sustainability and circular fashion
Since its inception in 2016, Hong Kong-based Retykle has flourished into one of the largest resale platforms for children’s fashion. It claims to have helped normalise and create appeal for secondhand in Asia. “We’re getting close to marking 500,000 items recirculated on our platform,” revealed Garner.
Retykle’s mission is rooted in sustainability and circular fashion. She said the company’s impact extends beyond quantifiable CO2e savings from secondhand purchases. The platform aims to transform how individuals interact with physical goods, fostering awareness about the lifecycle of products and simplifying the extraction of value.
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“Our technology will extend beyond kids’ products and transform the way we interact with our physical goods by unlocking consciousness around the lifecycle and creating value extraction with ease,” she said.
When the startup was launched in 2016, the concept of shopping and selling secondhand items online was novel in Asia. Early adopters were individuals culturally familiar with secondhand goods, recognising the benefits of savings, access to unique products, and environmental consciousness.
Retykle’s community grew to hundreds of thousands of users through organic referrals and earned trust. Changing consumer behaviours – a shift to online shopping, budget-conscious purchases, and eco-conscious choices – have further fuelled the adoption of buying and selling secondhand items.
Global attention, investment, and consumer interest in the fashion resale market have surged in recent years. By 2024, 10 per cent of the global apparel market is expected to consist of secondhand apparel, outpacing traditional retail sales.
In Asia, scepticism about the reliability of unverified secondhand listings persists. Retykle has garnered trust and advocacy by adopting a managed marketplace model. Each item undergoes physical inspection and verification and comes with a guarantee, solidifying the brand’s reputation for trustworthy listings.
“We’ve been steadfast in our dedication to building the best possible solution to the problem at hand and organically grew our community to hundreds of thousands of users mainly through organic referral and earned trust.”
How Retykle works: Seller to buyer
Retykle streamlines the process for both sellers and buyers. Sellers can schedule a free home pickup of their children’s clothing, following its ‘ABC’ standards – Age (newborn to 14 years old + maternity), Brand (listing over 3000 brands), and Condition (ranging from well-loved to new with tags).
After the pickup, Retykle handles everything from photographing and pricing to listing and selling items. Sellers receive notifications when their items sell and can choose to earn commissions in cash or store credit.
For buyers, the firm aims to offer a better shopping experience by enabling them to filter and search based on preferences, set up alerts for desired products, and get an average discount of 80 per cent off on over 3,000 brands. Purchases are stored in a Virtual Closet for future use.
To dispel cultural apprehension around secondhand items, Retykle has worked to shift perceptions. It emphasises that secondhand shopping offers not only a good-as-new experience but also compelling price points, community engagement, and environmental benefits. With a focus on educating and inspiring customers, Retykle utilises a carbon savings tool to spotlight individual actions and impacts.
Retykle maintains the quality and authenticity of pre-owned items through rigorous checks. “When authenticating items, we specifically look for indicators from elements such as stitching, buttons, zippers, brand and product care labels. We’ve reviewed hundreds of thousands of items and are expert detectors of any condition or authenticity concern and do not list those that don’t pass our standards,” she elaborated.
Future vision and growth plans
Retykle envisions a future where technology revolutionises circular consumption, bridging the gap between first-hand and second-hand markets. Its technology will extend beyond kids’ products, transforming how people interact with physical goods. Market expansion, marketing investments, and new technology launches are key components of Retykle’s growth strategy.
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In June this year, Retykle closed a new round of pre-Series A funding, bringing its total funding to US$2.2 million. The latest round was led by Singapore’s early to-growth stage VC firm Pine Venture Partners, with participation from undisclosed angels.
“We are using the capital to bring our new technology to market, which will bridge firsthand and secondhand to create widespread adoption of resale. We are investing in marketing to build awareness for our platform, and we are preparing for further market expansion,” she revealed.
The startup has global ambitions and assesses potential markets based on various factors, including consumer behaviour, e-commerce penetration, purchasing power, and sustainability adoption.
Retykle remains customer-centric, staying attuned to evolving consumer needs and preferences. “We have always stayed at the centre of our customer experience through dialogue with our community and tapping into their evolving needs and preferences. We use those signals to be at the intersection of innovation and satisfying needs. We remain attuned to our customers evolving behaviours to time our next offerings to pair into their journey with ease and unlock further transition to a more circular future,” concluded Garner.
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Image credit: Retykle
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