Launched a brand new internet and cellular platform for ethically minded fashionistas for the Asia Pacific market.
Headquartered in Singapore and based and financed by Deutsche Financial institution financier Tony Okay Tan, Smithgood goals to enchantment to feminine buyers who’re more and more involved in regards to the garment trade’s environmental and social footprint.
Billed as the primary of its sort within the area, the positioning is an internet market for buying and selling eco-friendly clothes manufacturers, listed primarily based on what the clothes are constructed from, how they’re made, and their influence on communities and surroundings.
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Manufacturers listed on the platform embody Thai model Thamon, which makes use of fallen leaves as a substitute of leather-based to make baggage, and Singapore’s Outfyt, which makes clothes from fishing nets and scrap material.
Customers also can promote their merchandise on the platform and may earn rewards by posting and sharing their very own eco-fashion model appears to be like utilizing an modifying software known as Lookbooks. The software is predicated on the assumption that buyers usually tend to make a purchase order if they’re impressed and influenced by the design decisions of others, in keeping with Tan.
“Our aim is to talk not solely to customers who’re already ethically minded, but in addition to those that are curious and need to be taught extra,” he informed Eco-Enterprise.
The platform is working with London-based digital carbon offsetting market Carbon Commerce Alternate to purchase carbon credit to offset emissions from the positioning.
Smithgood is launching at a time of rising inexperienced consumerism within the area. A 2021 research by analysis agency Ipsos discovered that client concern about local weather change and the necessity for manufacturers to align with good causes is extra pronounced in Southeast Asia than in different components of the world.
Tan pointed to a 2021 research by the Stern Faculty of Enterprise [link?] which discovered that natural merchandise, which make up simply 17 p.c of the general market, have grown 2.7 occasions sooner than typical merchandise since 2015. It additionally famous that buyers are actually extra motivated by goal than value .
The style trade is among the many most polluting industries on the earth. It consumes as much as 200 trillion liters of water annually, accounts for round 10 p.c of worldwide emissions, and polyester in clothes accounts for 20 to 35 p.c of microplastic air pollution within the ocean.
Main e-commerce websites have been making an attempt to capitalize on the rising curiosity in sustainable style manufacturers with schemes to assist customers store for greener manufacturers. Amazon now marks the greenest merchandise on its web site. Alibaba-owned participant Lazada was known as out for greenwashing final 12 months when he launched a promotion for “much less or higher” plastic merchandise on Earth Day. Merchandise labeled “eco” included disposable razors and polyester T-shirts.