Why I chose to be a karung guni for fashion apparel

Photo credit: vladmax

“You are just a glorified karung guni.”

This harsh statement came from a senior executive during my final pitch session before we made it into the SPH Plug and Play accelerator programme in June this year. Rag-and-bone men are known as karung guni in Singapore.

Reflecting and turning it around

I have to admit that those words stung me. It was a crude and unfair assessment. I have learnt that I cannot get everyone to like us and share in our vision.

Truth be told, it is not easy for a commerce retailer like our startup, Refash, to thrive, let alone stand out, in a tech-focused environment. Refash is a platform that encourages women to give their pre-loved clothing a second life and save the environment.

To further complicate matters, the fashion industry has become immensely competitive with very little margins, and VCs are less confident in pouring money into fashion tech startups.

Thankfully, a group of mentors and investors saw our enthusiasm and vision, and guided us along.

 I believed in what we were doing.

Despite these challenges, people asked why I persevered, despite the immense difficulties my team and I faced throughout the past year since I founded the company.

Was it because I was too proud to drop something that looked like it had a bleak future? Or was it for the team that believed in me, and I could not let them down? Or simply to prove that I was not just a glorified karung guni?

In retrospect, it was not all that. It was because I believed in what we were doing. Instead of forcing ourselves to incorporate more tech to make the business “sexier” for investors, the team placed our efforts in constantly evolving the business model to make it more commercially sustainable and scalable.

Finding purpose and value in changing society for the better

I always believed that as budding entrepreneurs, we should be looking to create value for people, or from a more macro perspective, changing society for the better.

With Refash, I felt that I stood a great chance in achieving these goals.

There are already a ton of amazing apps and businesses in the market for the resale of fashion items.

The irony of recycling programs by fashion labels

Moving toward sustainable consumption of fashion

Parting thoughts