RUINS
How might we change people’s school of thought from buying new clothes to upcycling old ones in Beijing?
How might we design a service to tackle the enormous annual growing clothing and textile waste seen in the United Kingdom?
Initiated as fashion tech project in Beijing to challenge the political and cultural attitudes towards buying second hand clothing, RUINS made its way to London to tackle the 300,000 tonnes (equivalent weight of 42 Eiffel Towers) worth of used but still wearable clothing that goes into UK landfill every year.
Circular-economy principles//
Entrepreneurship//
Cultural perspectivE//
Global innovation//
Human-centred design//
Ethnographic research//
UX/UI design//
Beijing//London//'18-20
RUINS, a service platform connecting people ( who have broken, stained, or just plain boring items in their closet) with fixers (local designers, retirees, and do-it-yourselfers), who will refurbish, personalise and embrace the old clothing so that it does not have to be discarded or replaced.
RUINS was further developed through the Resurgo Social Impact Accelerator Programme 2019/2020 to reach pre-seed funding stage. It also made its way to the semi-finals of the Mayors Entrepreneur Competition in 2019 and was showcased as part of the V&A Museum.
Holding on to used clothing for 9 months longer can reduce individuals’ water, carbon and waste footprint by up to 30% each year.
Co-founders | Thea Peterson, Imran Nazerali