Product & Business Strategy. Circular Fashion. 2024
Masters Capstone Project
Overview
Wishful Thrift is a Hyper-local Peer-2-Peer fashion re-selling platform that aims to make thrifting as easy as buying a new garment. It aims to make shopping second-hand the first thought, thus reducing the action-intention gap for consumers and acting as their friend in transition to a circular fashion system.
Project Scope
Design Research
Product Strategy
Circular Design
App Concept Design
My Role
Design Researcher
Product Strategist
Methods & Tools
Design Research
User Interviews & Workshops
Data Analysis, Synthesis & Insights
Prototyping & Testing
Lo-Fi + Hi-Fidelity Protos
Value Proposition Design
Business Model Design
Strategy Roadmap
Team of 3
Bhumika Keswani
Kavita Mishra (ME)
Tanmayi Deshmukh
Design Mentor
Rhea Alexander
Project Duration
15 weeks
Jan’24-May’24
The Context
//
The fashion industry is the second most polluting industry, contributing to
8% of all carbon emissions and
20% of all global wastewater.
//
Between 2000 and 2015,
annual clothing production and sales has doubled and
number of wears has halved.
//
8% American consumers
affected by Compulsive Buying Disorders.
UN Environment Programme, The Business of Fashion, American Journal of Psychiatry
Fashion Industry is complex. We understood it’s systemic interconnectedness holistically.
We spent 9 months unravelling the problem space and find levers of impactful change to design our strategy.
The Process
|| > First 4.5 months
Bhumika & Tanmayi studied role of consumers in driving sustainable practices & its intersection with consumer mental health.
Kavita (I) studied role of fashion brands in driving sustainable practices & effectiveness of sustainability policies, certifications & regulations.
|| > Second 4.5 months
Consumers emerged as one of the levers for driving change in advancing sustainability.
We came together to design a strategy to bridge the intention action gap for consumers by leveraging fashion-tech.
Research & Learning via
20+
12+
20+
16+
5
11
Workshop Testing Participants
User Survey Respondents
Subject Matter Expert Interviews
Literature Reviews & White Papers
User
Interviews
Store Shadowing
& Observation
Stakeholder Interviews
6
Digital
Ethnographies
80
Key Discoveries & Insights
// 1. Systemic Understanding
Complex fashion system with
various levers of change
A new wave of future-forward innovations are emerging to collectively address the humongous challenge of the fashion industry, with a significant amount of power lying in the hands of brands, designers and consumers.
Consumers emerge as a key stakeholder for driving change
Consumers have proved to be a key stakeholder in most industries and have demanded & driven brands and systems to change with their voice.
Intention-Action Gap:
A Frustrating Paradox
65% millennial and GenZ fashion consumers say they want to buy purpose-driven brands that advocate sustainability, but only 26% actually do so. A frustrating paradox remains.
// 2. Action-Intention Paradox & what’s being done?
Purpose-driven sustainable brands are often expensive and not everyone can afford them, even if they want to.
Buying from sustainable brands is not the only way of changing our consuming habits.
GenZ & Millenial consumers are turning towards thrifting and second-hand shopping to consume sustainably.
{ Sustainability is also longevity }
Extending use-life of clothing reduces environmental impact related to production emissions and waste.
“The most sustainable garment you can wear is one that’s already been made, and already been worn.”
Lilah Horwitz, Director of Renew Content & Marketing
// 3. Fashion Circularity & Power of One
Buying one second hand garment vs a run of the mill fast fashion garment:
// 4. But, thrifting and buying second-hand has its own challenges.
(Re)search Question
How might we increase convenience in thrifting and second-hand shopping amongst consumers to reduce the intention-action gap in adopting sustainable behaviours and fashion consumption practices?
User Insights into Strategic Pillars
Brand Development
Logos
