Utrecht’s Wardrobe Library

Let’s face it, there’s nothing like having a good look through your friend’s wardrobe when you’re stuck for something to wear. Well, the girls behind De Kledingbibliotheek (Apparel Library) are offering just this but on a massive, walk-in, citywide scale.

Fast Fashion; enemy #1 of the environment and industry creatives. It is the prevailing, obsolete retail system for clothing consumption. Season after season of monotonous “buy, wear, dispose” has sucked all joy out of the jubilant experience that was once shopping. This is where three young graduates based in Utrecht come in. They are opening De Kledingbibliotheek on Westerkade, Utrecht, this December. It’s sustainable, as well as sociable, and their initiative is challenging problems presented by current consumerism.

De Kledingbibliotheek looks like a clothing shop but works like a library. You borrow, you wear (for four weeks,) you return, repeat; eliminating a hefty amount of wastage and avoiding blowing your student loan in one week. There are multiple ways to contribute to the crowd-funded project via their reward-based donation system, which is inclusive of several months of free membership through to private up-cycling workshops for you and your friends.

On top of an extensive and diverse collection for young women of all shapes and sizes, they are also offering a platform for young designers by recruiting several, fair-trade fashion brands to put their garments on loan.

There’s no denying we are fans of this start-up. Environmentally-friendly frivolity is finally becoming available in fashion. At De Kledingbibliotheek, garments transcend their status as long-term investments and become guilt-free methods of self-expression, on borrowed time of course.