Urbankissed: Slow & Ethical Online Fashion Marketplace Celebrates 100 Brands Milestone

Urbankissed, a sustainable online marketplace that offers its customers slow and ethical fashion choices across a number of brands, has just added its 100th vendor on board. hitting a new milestone for the company as well as for the cruelty-free fashion industry as a whole.

Founded in 2017, Swiss-based fair trade and sustainable fashion marketplace Urbankissed is celebrating a significant milestone: the site now features over 100 brands offering customers a variety of options to shop from, ranging from clothes and bags made out of sustainable materials. In addition, shoppers can buy natural beauty products, eco-friendly active swimwear, and jewelry developed using recycled material.

According to the company, management consulting firm McKinsey has termed Urbankissed as one of the largest e-commerce platforms to offer a solution to the disastrous environmental impacts of the fast-fashion industry.

Urbankissed was set up by Swiss millennial Sophie Brunner during her studies in Fashion Business in Milan and London after leaving her job at a Swiss bank. Brunner had a hard time finding fashionable and sustainable alternatives to the fast fashion industry, so after extensive research, and she decided to take matters into her own hands.

The platform has a ‘Slow & Ethical’ index for its consumers that encourages customers to choose and shop what they feel is in line with their values. In a press release seen by Green Queen, Brunner explained more: “This index includes 15 standards along the supply chain which every product goes through before making the cut and provides transparency. We are very selective in adding new brands as many still have question marks in their supply chain.”

Some of the standards that products are categorized into include being ethically sourced, empowering artisans, meeting environmental requirements, completely plastic-free, using recycled materials and supporting charities.

This index includes 15 standards along the supply chain which every product goes through before making the cut and provides transparency. We are very selective in adding new brands as many still have question marks in their supply chain

Sophie Brunner, founder of Urbankissed

To accelerate further growth, the company has set a capital increase for Q2 2021. Brunner added that by making the customer experience as engaging as possible, its audience enjoys fashion differently by investing in fewer but high-quality pieces and thus cherishing them forever. “As a result, shopping online becomes purposeful, making it a fulfilling experience for all. With the upcoming capital increase, we aim to expand our market coverage while remaining true to our long-term goal. We aim to offer the best brand mix within every region so that ultimately our customers, who are primarily from Europe so far, have the opportunity to buy more locally and sustainably.”

According to recent McKinsey data, sustainable fashion searches have tripled in the years between 2016-2019 and over half of the fashion consumers now expect sustainability from brands.

We make the customer experience as engaging as possible and our audience enjoys fashion differently by investing in fewer but high-quality pieces and thus cherishing them forever. As a result, shopping online becomes purposeful, making it a fulfilling experience for all

Sophie Brunner, founder of Urbankissed

From unethical supply chains and factory exploitation, to cotton picked by forced Uighur labor to a shocking lack of diversity in both marketing and sizing, fast fashion brands are also recognizing the effects their clothes can have and are starting to develop sustainable ways to produce their garments.

For instance, clothing giant H&M recently launched its new sustainable concept, Innovation Stories with its debut collection, Science Story that includes pieces developed using vegan and cruelty-free leather developed by Mexican-based brand Desserto. Apart from this, American denim brand Levi’s and millennial-favourite brand Ganni joined forces twice, to create a rental-only collection of three staple denim pieces, all created from upcycled vintage Levi’s and repurposed denim along with a second denim collaboration showcasing a bunch of pieces developed using cottonized hemp fabric.

Lead image courtesy of Urbankissed.