To cater to the growing market of environmentally-conscious parents and caretakers out there, Scandinavian lifestyle brand ARKET has partnered with Amsterdam-based online rental subscription service Circos to start renting out its children’s clothes.
In order to encourage a more sustainable approach to shopping, this new partnership will see a large selection of ARKET’s childrenswear designs on the Circos platform that can be rented out either individually or as part of an edited bundle. The rented pieces will then be delivered directly to the customer’s door.
Through this program, which is just the latest of ARKET’s sustainability initiative, the label hopes to encourage a reuse and re-wear ethos. Children typically grow through eight sizes in the first two years of their lives. As a result, parents, on average, purchase around 280 pieces of clothing during this period. And some of these clothes will only be worn for a few months or less.
To combat the detrimental effects this has on the environment, ARKET’s rental system will allow customers to reduce their carbon footprint by up to 80%, without having to spend a lot of time and money doing so. Families will also save a ton of space, considering the wardrobe can grow along with the child.
Parents can rent different products from ARKET’s children’s collection for their child for as long as they fit and then return them when it’s time to size up or to update the wardrobe for a new season. After returning the items, Circos washes them so that they are clean for the next customer.
ARKET additionally stated that around eight to ten families will share and enjoy the same piece of clothing. Then once the products wear out, the materials will be repurposed to make new products.
“We’re really happy to be able to give our customers the possibility to share products with other families and proud to join Circos in their vision for a more circular everyday life,” Pernilla Wohlfahrt, managing director at ARKET, shared in a press release. “Children’s clothes need to be designed with a longer-term horizon in mind, and all our garments are consciously intended to be handed down when outgrown.”
ARKET’s Circos subscription is currently available and features a curated selection of high-quality items made from a variety of sustainable materials. Currently, 97% of ARKET’s children’s range is sustainably sourced and produced from organic cotton, recycled fibres, and chemical-free treatments.
A monthly membership to the ARKET x Circos program costs €19.50 EUR (approximately $30 CAD) per month, which includes professional laundry service and no extra fees for any accidental damage to the clothing.
All images in this article are courtesy of ARKET.
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