If you’re a regular reader of ours, I think it’s safe to assume that you dream in green. What I mean is: that you try to follow a relatively ecologically-minded lifestyle. Maybe you shop at the bio store and regularly frequent our humble natural cosmetics company. But being friendly to the environment doesn’t just go skin deep, it also covers what you use to cover up. Shopping ethically doesn’t mean you have to end up wearing a brown potato sack. Sacrificing style for sustainability is a thing of the past, and in this series, we intend to show you just that. Each time we promise to bring you a green solution that will clear your conscience, all while giving you head-turning looks.

‘Die Kleiderei’ is an online boutique where you cannot buy clothes but only borrow them. It works like a subscription service: You pay a monthly fee of 34 EUR and receive a curated box with four pieces of clothing. You can keep each piece for four weeks or longer and then simply send it back to the Kleiderei. This concept is as simple as it is sustainable: Borrowing instead of buying. The Kleiderei offers a wide variety of different styles, including vintage and sustainable pieces, whilst still keeping up with current trends.

Back in 2012, Pola Fendel and Thekla Wilkening took a revolutionary step by opening their own version of a fashion library. They both wanted to promote slow fashion, instead of all the disposal clothing you can nearly buy anywhere, and opened their own store – ‘die Kleiderei’.
Their store in Hamburg was a huge success, so they followed up with various pop up stores in Berlin and Cologne. In 2014, the TV station ‘VOX’ asked them to present their concept at the German version of ‘Shark Tank’ and ended up taking their ideas online. Whilst the VOX jury couldn’t be persuade to back up their plan, Pola & Thekla still launched their online Kleiderei by the end of 2014.

‘Die Kleiderei’ celebrated it’s 4th birthday last October, so we talked with founder Pola about her successful concept and her own sustainable lifestyle.

Photo by Denys Karlinskyy

Photo by Denys Karlinskyy

You recently made the switch to a curated way of borrowing clothes. Why did you decide to take this step? What are the benefits?

The greatest benefit is, that we can offer our costumers pieces that they probably never would have picked themselves. They receive a monthly package with four curated pieces. Feedback is very important to us, but it has rarely happened that our picks didn’t match the personal taste of a customer. Whoever signs up for this service has to answer a handful of questions about the size they were, their taste, personal style… and so on. The longer our subscribers stick with us, the more we get to know them and can pick pieces that match their style and taste.

How do you choose each piece?

Currently we own about 4500 clothing pieces for women. This includes several vintage treasures, which we find on flea markets. In general though, we carry sustainable fashion made by smaller labels and young designers. We try to collaborate with brands that produce sustainably, fair and, for example, upscycle their materials.
Our collection includes labels like Trinkhallen Schickeria, Jan ‘n June, Lies in Layers, Lanius, Black Velvet Circus…

Do you still shop for clothes and if so, where? What’s the best online shop?

Of course we still go shopping, but we skip most big and common retailers that sell fast fashion. I tend to think about what I want to buy first and rather save up some money to purchase a new favorite piece from a designer. I also do not like to wear what everybody else is already wearing. To invest in a unique and great fashion piece makes me much more happier.

My favorite store: Folkdays from Berlin!

Do you make use of the ‘Kleiderei’ yourself?

Of course not, only sometimes, or more often… psst!

What are your plans for the ‘Kleiderei’?

We have been focusing on our online library in the past. Which is great, since our store is open to all of Germany that way. We would love to own an actual store in Berlin though. To do so though, we would have to know someone who owns stock already. Like Lena from the reclaim vintage label Trinkhallen Schickeria, who is our offline slow fashion ally in Cologne.
For now we will stick to women clothing only, although a library for men’s clothing could also be possible… and definitely desirable for the future. In January and February we will start selling men’s clothes in our Popup store in the ‘B-Lage’ in Hamburg.

What does ‘sustainability’ mean do you? Do you also follow a green lifestyle when it comes to Food and Beauty?

We try to live by the rule of: Less is more and less is true. Nobody needs oodles of clothing. Nobody is perfect, but we think about how we live and try to follow a sustainable and holistic lifestyle as much as possible. To make a sudden and complete change is nearly impossible. I think it is more about a change in thinking. It doesn’t matter if you start with food or clothing. If you start to inform yourself about production conditions, resources etc., your lifestyle will automatically become more conscious and resource saving.

Thank you so much for the interview, Pola! 

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