The fashion industry is trapped in a broken cycle because trends come and go at breakneck speed, creating stress and waste for brands, people, and natural resources. Fashion is such an important part of our lives (naturally!), but sadly, it’s also a significant contributor to the climate crisis, because of this, we must build a smarter fashion industry.The carbon footprint of the fashion industry was 4% of the global total in 2018 (McKinsey & Company and Global Fashion Agenda). This equals the combined annual footprint of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. It is predicted that over the next decade, beyond measures already in place, the industry’s carbon dioxide emissions will likely rise to an annual volume growth rate of 2.7% (McKinsey & Company and Global Fashion Agenda).At Otrium, our philosophy is that a fashion item that’s produced as a creative passion for humans, using materials extracted from earth, shouldn't collect dust in a warehouse or end up in landfill. We’d love to see a future where every clothing item produced is worn, and we’re working with hundreds of brand partners to achieve this.. Through our brand partnerships, we aim to reduce the overall amount of waste in the industry and follow a more circular approach. Since the industrial revolution, the fashion industry has been dominated by a one-way, linear model of production and consumption, raw materials are collected, transformed into short lived products, and then thrown away. Currently, approximately one in every ten items of clothing produced, or more than $200 billion worth, stay unsold, sitting in warehouses. Fashion and the freedom of self expression that clothing offers us, is not to be wasted. We’re here to change the status quo.  We believe that fashion’s linear ‘take-make-waste’ model can be transformed into a circular approach that is restorative and regenerative by design. To help diminish the take-make-waste pattern, we are attempting to close the loop. As an industry with inherent waste, one of which has such a large impact on people and the environment, we want to make it our responsibility to start by closing the loop. It’s time to design out waste:Circularity or the circular economy is a system of closed loops in which raw materials, components and products loose as little value as possible renewable energy sources are used, and systems thinking is used. Much like the circle shape, the garments and products are put back into the cycle of the industry, rather than ending up in landfill sites or disregarded as waste. This is a purpose we care about at Otrium. Today, consumers care more about what they buy and how it will impact people and the environment. Our own research found that ⅓ of our customers are ‘Sustainable Shoppers’. When shopping at Otrium, these shoppers can be reassured that we are working towards a more circular future for fashion. Let’s be the solution, let’s become circular. Read more about our impact here: undefinedundefinedundefinedundefined

Otrium was founded with the purpose that all clothing should be worn. One in ten items made are never sold – this is not only a huge waste of the creativity and labour that goes into their production, but a waste of investment and natural resources. Founders, Milan and Max, wanted to change this.We’re a purpose-driven, end-of-season fashion platform, developing technology and using data to match supply and demand within the fashion industry to reduce this impact. We’re changing the way fashion is created and sold through our technology which finds a match for every item on our platform, and then through our data, informs demand-based clothing creation. Fashion is trapped in a broken cycle of overproduction; creating stress and waste for brands, people, and natural resources. The industry is at a turning point, and thanks to technological advancements across the board, it’s the right time for us all to be pioneers of new and better solutions. Being purpose-led is at the core of everything we do. Similar to the circular model, at Otrium, we aim to close the loop of the previously linear industry model, by selling the unsellable: we polish, match, use data, and refurbish. How? 1. We polishWe receive and ‘polish’ items to regain value. From product description, photography, packaging, and pressing, we ensure that every piece is ready to be adored by a new owner. We have state-of-the-art warehouses with top-quality equipment, to bring items back to life. Often, returned garments only require tiny ‘tweaks’ to be ready for sale, but are instead left lying in storage or end up as landfill.2. We matchWe find a match – an owner for every item on our platform. And for the small portion of items that cannot be sold on our platform, we sell them to stock buyers. As a company, we are motivated by our leading philosophy, that all clothing should be worn. Because of this, we use technology and data to match supply and demand in the most efficient way possible, matching each item to a fashion lover.  3. We use data Together with our partner brands, we use insights to create demand based fashion which removes the likelihood of excess inventory. We're taking the guesswork out of fashion production with data informed forecasting to reduce unsold inventory coming into the supply chain to start with.4. We refurbishMany returns in e-commerce remain unsold because they are returned with minor imperfections, some damage or are just not worth investing in repressing and repackaging, fixing up labels etc. We believe it's worth the effort, so we refurbish as many items as we can to ensure that they're sold and worn. Change for us starts with measuring and quantifying our impact. We approach our impact in two key ways; having no negative impact as a company, and having a positive impact on the industry. What? It is in our best interest to measure, monitor, map out, and change our processes where necessary. We are committed to measuring and managing our environmental impact from the perspective of our brand partnerships and the fashion industry as a whole. Our organisational boundary is set in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol – a global standardised framework to measure and manage greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.Why? Almost 40% of our global greenhouse gas emissions can be traced back to energy generation, and half of that energy is used by industrial or commercial entities. We continually measure our environmental impact in order to manage it and keep it as low as possible. We measure our Carbon Footprint (+ link to report), through three scopes: 1. Controlled GHGs (combustion from the office and vehicles) 2. Indirect emissions (electricity) and, 3. Emissions resulting from activities (packaging, warehouse, and logistics). How? Due to the fact that we are a data-driven organisation, we use metrics and insights to inform our decisions. In order to track our impact, we’ve produced three reports. Each report looks into our impact, how we measure our impact, and what the future looks like: undefinedundefinedundefinedWe created these reports as a baseline to understand our impact and set goals.   Moving forward Otrium is determined to drive this research forward to improve transparency in the fashion industry as a whole and to validate and quantify the impact of our business model. The first step is to find the right partners and institutions to collaborate with on this research. What calculations will we be making? We’ll analyse our material data and use it to build a strategy for lowering our impact. By nature, the fashion industry is diverse with an eclectic mix of styles and preferences. Because of this, it is important to have an in-depth understanding of the different materials we are working with. Secondly, we’ll carry out order process calculations, including those for the Carbon Dioxide that is expelled as a result of packaging and transportation. In addition, we will be assessing the life cycle of our fashion brands. For example, how much energy did it take for a product to be made? We will publish our 2022 results and actively communicate our progress and findings via the Conscious page on our platform. So keep your eyes peeled!

To reach our goal, we have a journey ahead of us. A journey we’d like our customers to be a part of. 2020 and 2021 may have been pretty unpredictable years, we’re glad to have made more progress than we had thought was possible. Making a positive impact however, is an ongoing journey, and we continue to improve over time. We are proud of measuring our impact through reporting, through which we’ve released three reports: undefinedundefinedundefinedThe goal of these reports is to have reliable data to feed into our sustainability strategy moving forward. The reports are based on the year 2020, they function as a baseline to understand our impact and set goals, as well as functioning as a benchmark for our future. To ensure that we efficiently track and leverage our sustainability strategy, and to ensure full transparency, we plan on reporting the same data annually, At Otrium, contributing to positive change has always been our main priority.  Looking back, here are some highlights throughout 2020 and 2021:  2020 ‘19 to ‘20 Refurbishing returns We extended the life cycle of slightly imperfect returns by refurbishing them by hand to an as-new condition and offering them a second chance to find a new owner on our platform. Why is this important? Returns provide another opportunity for clothing to be mismanaged and they end up not being worn. We want to prevent any chance of this happening, elongating all journeys that the items go through. March ‘20 100% recycled packaging We aim to create a conscious journey, from item creation to boxing, through to wearing. Our shipping boxes are made out of recycled cardboard and are based upon the measurements of the pallets of our forwards to ship as efficiently as possible. Through measuring efficiently, we use the least amount of surface area as possible. Additionally, our poly bags are made out of 100% recycled polyester and are only used in case an incoming item is missing one.April ‘20 Improving the last mile The start of our last mile project. The last mile project was initiated in order to improve the carbon footprint of our shipments. How? We decided to partner and work with alternative transport systems such as bicycle couriers in the Netherlands.   2021 March ‘21 Sustainability function Otrium was founded as a purpose-driven company. In 2021 we hired  a dedicated Sustainability Lead to ensure our purpose remains focused and understood by our consumers. April ‘21 Fit finderIn order to reduce returns, we implemented a size recommendation tool. The tool combines production size chart data and body-modelling knowledge with the world’s largest collection of sales and return records to provide the most accurate fit prediction. July ‘ 21 Official fur free retailer From a day-to-day perspective the platform stayed the same, as we did not have any garments that contained real fur. This accreditation made the fur-free status official – for our customers and for our partners.As you can see, we’re on quite the journey to becoming conscious, come along with us!We see a future where all clothing is worn. Our role as a business is to eradicate unsold inventory and change the way clothing is produced, bought, and considered. We aim to have a positive impact on the fashion industry, to help give fashion a bright future. Every year, billions of items are produced globally but are never sold and go unworn – this is a huge waste of creative energy, labour, natural resources, and investment. Right now, waste is built into our linear industry model, something that we as a company have the responsibility to help fix. Laws are being enforced which will require the fashion industry to significantly reduce the amount of waste, therefore, change is inevitable. So, how is Otrium helping the industry change?Our ambitions are a two-fold: 1. Our impact on the fashion industry We want to help fashion brands and our members to become more circular by creating an infrastructure to regain value of inventory streams and give all items a new lease of life. We are a data-led platform, using customer insights. We use data to help inform brands’ new collections; meaning brands are only creating what consumers want to buy. We only use data that our customers are happy for us to use informing brands what it is they’re looking to buy.2. Our own impact - carbon footprint Our aim is to become net-zero by 2030, in line with the Science Based Targets initiative. We will report on a yearly basis, providing buyers with valuable insights - we’re big on transparency. We plan on reducing our impact by reviewing and acting on our practices and processes, and to offset the effect of the carbon we cannot reduce. We have committed to investigating new forms of offsetting which can make the largest impact. True to our values, we're investing in offsetting technologies at the cutting edge, which can remove carbon from the atmosphere. What’s in our future plan? (some sneak peeks)...We’re working with frameworks and targets to lower our greenhouse gas emissions as much as possible. Our rescue strategyScaling refurbishment by taking in slightly imperfect items from our brand partners, refurbishing them by hand to as-new condition, and offering them a second chance to find a new owner on our platform.Our carbon strategy We’ll publish our carbon strategy to show our impact. Our actions to lower our greenhouse gas emissions by as much as possible. Additionally, we will report our carbon footprint yearly, reducing the impact we make, and simultaneously removing the emissions we cannot avoid yet.Redesign of the packaging We redesigned our shipping boxes to lower our carbon footprint, using thinner, unbleached, recycled cardboard, as well as adding an envelope to avoid shipping air for smaller items.Onboarding more conscious brands We are in the process of onboarding more fashion brands that are rated conscious by Good On You.Solar panels on our warehouse Our warehouse and fulfilment partner is working on a zero-waste program and transitioning to run on energy generated by their own solar panels.We’re excited about the future, and yes, it may sound ambitious, but we’re truly steadfast in looking to improve the fashion industry through a more circular approach.  Join the movement