Mona Vale couple have the environment and buyers at the heart of the ReHomed Clothing

Rogan and Kim Carroll noticed an increased interest in second-hand clothing during lockdown, along with people doing mass cleanouts of their wardrobes to make way for new items. They also wanted to offer an alternative to people overloading charity shops with donations, because not all of them make it to the shelves.

The idea sat in the back of their minds for two-and-a-half years before it was officially launched a couple of weeks ago.

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"We are trying to save the environment and clean out everyone's wardrobe," Mr Carroll said.

The businessman and marketer built and tested the website for two months this year.

The couple found when people started to list clothes on the ReHomed Clothing site, many items still had their price tags attached. When they conducted initial research, they discovered a pre-pandemic survey that said one in three women in Britain got rid of their clothes after they wore them once or twice.

"That concept really [needs] to change," Mrs Carroll said.

"When I was young, I bought quality over and wore it over and over again."

According to the Australian Fashion Council's 2022 Industry Modelling Report, six tonnes of Australian clothing is dumped in landfill every 10 minutes.

Australia is the second highest textile consumer in the world per person, behind the United States of America, according to data from the inaugural National Clothing Textile Waste roundtable in 2021.

A submission to the Parliament of Australia in 2019 revealed that Australians consume 27 kilograms of textiles annually but 23 kilograms of it gets discarded.

Information on the Northern Beaches Council website in regards to waste production, revealed five per cent of waste in the local government area's red bins is from textiles, which includes clothing.

"The concept and idea had been around for a couple of years and it's not unique - there are markets, there are second-hand stalls," the co-founder said.

"[But] being the entrepreneur I am, I like to find a better way to do things."

One key difference that sets ReHomed Clothing apart from other marketplaces, is the use of filters which make clothes easier to search for.

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Sellers have to use filters that indicate a piece's size, style, colour, material and brand which gives people a "decluttered" search with specific items they are looking for.

Another distinct feature is items being directly posted to people, which eliminates the hassle of working out a pick-up time and provides people with security if they are uncomfortable meeting others.

It also means the price does not change and instead of people being geographically limited to their area, they can securely buy clothing interstate.

When somebody has bought something, they are given a tracking number and the money is not released until it makes it to their doorstep.

People who want to sell their clothes are given tips on how to photograph and display items for the site.

"It's great that second-hand clothing is cool again," Mrs Caroll said.

"I hope we all do our little piece and make a big difference."

You can learn more about ReHomed Clothing on rehomedclothing.com or via Facebook and Instagram.

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