Founders Q+A: Green Glamour on Fashion Rental and Personal Accountability

Green Glamour on fashion rental and personal accountability

Managing Director and co-founder of Green Glamour Sarah Malek talks us through her personal mission to make accountability part of her sartorial choices and how a school project and a wedding inspired her to found her fashion rental business.

ESGmark®: What inspired you to start Green Glamour?

Sarah Malek (SM): Like most women, I love fashion and looking good makes me feel good. Fashion is part of my identity, it’s how I show up and present myself to the world. From fast fashion every day wear to high-end designer dresses; my wardrobe has always been full and up until a couple of years ago, when I gave it a second thought. I was the opposite of what sustainability stood for.

But one day, my daughter asked me to help her in her ‘GreenGirl’ presentation and in researching climate change and the stark reality of the future, it hit me: I needed to do better. As a mother-of-three, I felt guilty about the way I was contributing to the carbon footprint and I thought a lot about what I could do to change my own behaviour. The mission of sustainability stuck. Of course, it started at home, making eco-conscious choices where I could but then personally, I wondered how I could still indulge in the fashion I loved but still be green. And then that’s when the idea came - why not rent instead of buy? I thought I’d give it a try when it came time for my sister in law’s wedding and looked at what was on offer. I was disappointed. I couldn’t find anything that stood out. No-one was offering affordable access to high-end fashion…and so GreenGlamour was on born!

ESGmark®: What has been your biggest learning in your first year of business?

SM: GreenGlamour was launched July 2021 and every day since then it’s been a journey with lots of lessons learned. One major thing I have seen is a more significant shift towards sustainable practices and the purchase of eco-friendly products with consumers acknowledging the environmental benefits brought about by last year lockdown.

Our market research has also shown that consumers would prefer an environmentally friendly brand that also delivers value for money as opposed to the traditional ‘make use and dispose of policy’. I have also learned that consumers are more inclined to reuse and recycle than before the pandemic which is a great but still the rental market is not mature yet and lots of awareness campaigns need to be implemented to shift consumer’s behaviour from buying to renting .

ESGmark®: How do you tackle consumer attitudes that still focus very heavily on ownership of an item?

SM: I tackle that attitude by focusing on this simple message; that renting fashion is cool and anyone who rents should feel proud about it. After all we have all rented before in some way or another by borrowing a family or your friend’s clothing for an occasion. Renting fashion makes so much sense in so many ways and I really believe it will form a major part of our future; and even if it takes time to adopt we will be patient!

Another major thing is we always make it clear on all of our communications with customers of how much environmental savings they would make by renting instead of buying (i.e.carbon footprint savings verified by CoGo). In a world of excess, our vision is to shake fashion consumption up and help support a circular fashion economy. We want to make renting the new norm and champion positive change. We want women to feel confident and adventurous.

Finally, we have also worked hard on our curated collection that GreenGlamour offers in terms of rare to find pieces that is sourced from many local designers around the world. So even if someone not convinced of renting yet, they would rent just because of our rare to find curated collection which they will not be able to source from anywhere else.

ESGmark®: A number of fashion rental companies are now offering sales as well as rental options - what are your thoughts on this?

SM: At GreenGlamour we only offer rental. It is our passion to reduce the amount of redundant and unused clothes that ends up in landfill and thus helping protect our planet. We will not be able to achieve this by selling too. We are quite conscious that by selling like other rental platform we could make more profit but that’s not our mission.

ESGmark®: A huge challenge for any subscription/rental model is its delivery logistics and emissions - how are you tackling the delivery and pick up emissions for Green Glamour?

SM: We’ve worked hard to make sure that we take the planet into consideration in the way we operate – making every stage of your rental experience as sustainable and as eco-friendly as we possibly can.

For delivery, we are very committed to cut toxic emissions. So we aim to use Parcel-force’s Green Fleet wherever it’s possible.

For dry clean, we are all aware of the damaging effect that dry cleaners contribute to our environment. That’s why we have partnered with Blanc; Blanc uses only water and non-toxic products to clean clothes naturally i.e. they do not use PERC in their process (PERC is a toxic chemical and unfortunately it’s the most dominant chemical used in most of the dry cleaners nowadays; it is also toxic to humans).

For packaging; GreenGlamour postage bags are 100% biodegradable. We also use 100% recyclable tissue paper to wrap up the clothing. Our swing tags are made of 100% post-consumer recycled paper. We also ask that consumer use the same packaging for their returns so we don’t create more waste!

Finally, we have also partnered with CoGo which is a verified Carbon Calculator (i.e. calculate each environmental savings per rental order).

ESGmark®: How else can fashion lessen its environmental impact?

SM: The obvious solution would be to start using only sustainable materials to manufacture the garments. Also offering rental platforms is a great way to reduce the excess inventory waste that otherwise ends up in landfills.


ESGmark®: Where do you see Green Glamour in two years time?

SM: In 2 years I would hope to see GreenGlamour a platform where consumers from all over the world can exchange their cupboards for new and exciting products. I also dream that all the global brands will chose to rent through us (and not just their excess inventory but quality pieces) with the aim of avoiding landfill disposal all together.

ESGmark®: Who is your biggest fashion inspiration?

SM: I would say my biggest fashion inspiration is Princess Diana as she continues to have a major influence on many people’s style choices.

ESGmark®: What are you reading at the moment?

SM: At the moment I am reading ‘If in doubt, wash your hair’ by Anya Hindmarch .

For more on Green Glamour and to find your dream (green) dress, head over to their website.

Speaking to our founders is central to keeping the ESGmark® community connected - read our other interviews with Dandelion on holistic branding, Spark and Bloom on business’ responsibility to take action or Prosody London on natural fragrance and business karma.