Slow & Ethical Marketplace Reaches Milestone
Urbankissed, the Swiss-based online marketplace for fair trade and sustainable fashion, has just reached 100+ brands. It has become one of the biggest e-commerce platforms offering a realistic solution to combat fast fashion’s detrimental impacts on the planet and exploitative working conditions, being one of the most polluting industries worldwide as per McKinsey. Moreover, this start-up has launched a unique “Slow & Ethical” index for its consumers. To accelerate further growth, a capital increase is set for Q2 2021
Zug (CH), 11th March 2021 – www.urbankissed.com has just added its 100th vendor to its portfolio of fair trade and sustainable brands primarily located in Europe. This is a big milestone as this makes it one of the largest and first online destinations to offer a realistic solution to the fast-fashion crisis.
Launched in 2017 by the Swiss millennial Sophie Brunner, it was one of the first online shops offering the right balance between conscious but joyful consumption in an engaging and educative retail environment. It is now one of the few platforms that makes shopping consciously easy without sacrificing on style, showcasing a wide range of categories and affordable products.
Urbankissed enables customers to make their own value judgement and to shop according to their values via its “Slow & Ethical” index. “This index includes 15 standards along the supply chain which every product goes through before making the cut and provides transparency,” says Brunner. “We are very selective in adding new brands as many still have question marks in their supply chain.”
Seven years on from the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh, worker exploitation and environmental pollution remain rife within the industry. People want to see changes. "Sustainable fashion" searches have tripled in the years between 2016-2019. Over half of fashion consumers now expect sustainability from brands as per two 2020 McKinsey reports.
“We make the customer experience as engaging as possible so that our audience enjoys fashion differently by investing in fewer but high-quality pieces and to cherish them forever,” says Brunner. “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.
ABOUT URBANKISSED
Offering an engaging and educative online destination, this Swiss-based slow & ethical marketplace stocks 100+ conscious brands primarily from Europe. Alongside clothes and bags made of sustainable and innovative materials, are a selection of natural beauty products, eco-friendly active- & swimwear, handcrafted homeware and jewelry made with recycled material that will get you excited about a mindful urban lifestyle. Orders are shipped by the brands directly to the customers.
This platform was founded by Sophie Brunner during her studies in “Fashion Business” (Bachelor of Arts - Hons) in Milan and London after leaving her job at a Swiss bank in 2017. Her passion for conscious fashion was ignited after realising the devastating effects of fast fashion and when she couldn’t find any platform mixing affordable, trendy and conscious clothes with an interactive customer experience. Since Sophie has a strong entrepreneurial and creative mindset, she has started to work full-time on her start-up right after successfully completing her studies.