October 11, 2018
Cloeth, the Basque startup that will revolutionize your wardrobe
Cloeth aims to facilitate access to quality clothing. In addition, its goal is to give users a new experience, to rotate their wardrobes every month and enjoy fashion in a new way.
Founded by Raúl Mata, Asier Agorria and Zuriñe Hernández, Cloeth provides a solution to all those people who want to release clothing every month without contributing to a mass consumerism. How did the idea arise?
In the fashion sector, fast-fashion has been imposed, also known as the phenomenon of disposable fashion. Consumers buy clothes that are only “fashionable” for a while and then the clothes are forgotten in the closet. According to the statistics 1 out of 3 women consider obsolete clothes that have been put more than three times and 60% of the clothes we buy ends up in the closet without giving it barely use. This favors the massive production of clothing, making the sector less and less sustainable (it is currently the second most polluting on the planet).
We wanted to give a solution to this problem with a new movement of an ethical or sustainable closet and we shuffled the idea of putting people who did not use their clothes in contact to rent it to other people interested in it. It was a business model that had been successful in other countries through which we could achieve to extend the useful life of the garments while updating the wardrobe of other people at a low cost.However, we saw that there could be reluctance when using other people’s clothes and not being able to guarantee the state of the same. Therefore, we decided to go a step further and take care of the entire product cycle, from the purchase of clothes to cleaning, in order to guarantee the condition and quality of the garments. In addition, we did not want him to stay in the occasional use but our intention was to promote this business model.
Therefore, we think about improving the experience and offering our users a subscription to renew their wardrobe every month, showing them the clothes that best fit with each of them, based on their tastes and preferences. This is how what we know today as Cloeth came about. This name comes from CLOset and ETHics.
An added value that Cloeth brings to the user are the recommendations, on the web we see how we can indicate our style. How is the methodology to make this match?
Through our artificial intelligence that will act as a virtual assistant. Once the future client has selected the types of garments that you want to see through a form, Cloe – that’s the name of the virtual assistant – gets down to work and presents her with suggestions, so the client can select what she wants to receive in home.
It is a simple, quick and visual form in which the users tell us what kind of clothes and accessories they want to receive, as well as the size they wear and for what occasions they want the clothes, either for their day to day, to go to work , to events. All in order that Cloe learn from our user and every month offers clothes more to your liking and a unique experience to our users.
Once the user has filled in the form, we receive that information and thanks to artificial intelligence we can not only show the users the clothes that best fit each one, but also learn from their final selections and offer them each time articles more chords to them. Cloe every day will learn more about them and will give them a totally personalized service.
What has been the warmth of the audience? Are we prepared for new forms of consumption like Cloeth?
Yes, we are prepared and we see that as a society we want to explore these new forms of consumption but, unlike the US or countries in northern Europe where this type of consumption is much more normalized and the barriers are lower, in Spain we still find ourselves Some reluctance when talking about rent or 2nd hand, although less and less. We already know many initiatives in this sector and the market does not stop growing. However, we know that the key is trust, and when our clients experience the service and find that they can find clothes with some previous use as if they were new, that initial rejection is eliminated. We guarantee the cleaning and label each item in your shipment, offering that experience we have every time we buy something. And they love it.
On the other hand, if we think slowly, consuming things or services by subscription is the order of the day: from mobile telephony, or some television channels, to, lately, cars for personal use. More and more services we enjoy and pay periodically instead of owning them.
In addition, people are increasingly aware of concepts such as the circular economy and the consistent use of resources. We are increasingly aware that we must change certain consumption habits to be more respectful with the environment.
Last week you went to the BBSC, the most important entrepreneurship event in Bilbao. How do you value the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Basque Country?
Right now a movement is emerging in order to place Euskadi as a benchmark in the entrepreneurial world, and initiatives such as the Biscay Bay Startup Campus are necessary for this.
We have to be aware that national level Madrid and Barcelona are pioneers and well positioned, but if we know something here, is to adapt quickly and overcome any challenge that we propose. Last week, at the BBSC, we met exceptional people with incredible potential, with fantastic projects, with whom we were able to establish collaborative relationships. We are sure that in a few years we are talking about this land and especially Bilbao, one of the leaders in Europe in this area.