There’s no doubt that secondhand shopping and virtual thrifting is taking over the consumer experience. Online marketplaces such as Depop, Ebay, Asos Marketplace and Etsy are the most prominent platforms on which anyone with an internet connection can sell and buy pre-loved clothing. Being the biggest names in the game should come with a feeling of responsibility and an obligation to give back to the community – however, this is a role that barely any brands have assumed. Since the fashion industry’s production model is the second biggest contributor As the fashion industry’s production model is the second biggest contributor to waste and environmental pollution, it is even more pressing and critical that we are environmentally conscious and educated on the impact of fast fashion. Enter ESOOKO: a socially aware modern-day solution designed to minimize poor shopping habits.
Founded by Angus Morton and Jacob Simons in 2019, ESOOKO is a London-based online marketplace open to all fashion lovers that allows its customers to better the environment and community through buying and selling pre-loved clothing. With ESOOKO, your shopping activity translates to good deeds – out of the 2% transaction fee charged, half is allocated to fund an ESOOKO-affiliated environmental initiative of your choice. Choose between planting trees with Just One Tree, planting corals with Coralive.org or raising awareness on the benefits of slow fashion with Hubbub. According to their website, £1 plants a tree, £1 plants a coral and £1 educates 100 people. Unlike other shopping platforms, ESOOKO goes further by taking affirmative steps to act on their mission to protect the planet.
At ESOOKO, top sellers are not only commended for their coveted curations, but also for quantifiable amounts of their contributions to the environment. ESOOKO’s Instagram is worth a follow as it features unique ESOOKO shops to support, and the positive impacts that have come as a result of their businesses. In addition to helpful outfit inspiration, your feed will be spotted with shocking facts on the detrimental consequences of supporting fast fashion. These serve as much-needed reminders to give a second thought to what we buy, consume and discard in our day-to-day lives.
On top of their online marketplace and social media, ESOOKO’s website offers more in-depth resources for people to educate themselves about the current affairs relating to the fashion industry and climate change. Ranging from blog articles exposing Zara’s so-called “sustainable fashion” goals to fashion facts on the benefits of thrifting, the site is an insightful read for fellow environmental advocates.
SHEESH! spoke to co-founder Angus Morton on ESOOKO’s mission statement, the company’s view on the importance of sustainable fashion, and the ever growing online marketplace’s future potential.
Q: ESOOKO’s slogan is ‘The fashion community that defends the planet.’ What was the driving force behind the creation of ESOOKO? Was it a certain experience or inspiration?
ANGUS: “We were driven to build ESOOKO because we felt that we had two contradicting passions. On the one hand, we love fashion. Clothes excite us. We love taking time putting together different outfits and dressing up for different occasions. However, we are also very passionate about the need to save our planet. And we couldn’t escape from the fact that the fashion industry is causing so much damage to the environment. So we believe that ESOOKO allows for these two passions to no longer contradict. Firstly, ESOOKO is predominantly a marketplace for second hand clothes and buying second hand is, of course, better for the environment. And secondly, a percentage of every transaction on ESOOKO is used to fund environmental initiatives. So now fashion lovers like us can actually harness their passion for fashion for the purpose of defending the planet, not destroying it.”
Q: What are your thoughts on the importance of sustainability in the fashion industry? How does your shopping platform discourage fast fashion?
ANGUS: “Sustainability is imperative for all parts of life, not just the fashion industry. However, it is particularly urgent for the fashion industry to become sustainable because it is an industry that everyone is part of. Everyone wears clothes and so if everyone is part of an industry that is deeply unsustainable then that has a horrendous effect on the planet, which, of course, it is having. Also, unfortunately, the fashion industry is not just ‘slightly’ unsustainable. It has been commandeered by the demon that is fast fashion. And fast fashion NEEDS TO BE STOPPED. It is so horribly damaging for our planet in a whole host of ways. From the amount of water it uses, to the amount of waste it leads to in landfills, to the amount of microfibres it pollutes the sea with. Fast fashion is a business model that relies on killing this planet – and it cannot go on.
In contrast, ESOOKO encourages second-hand fashion, it inspires environmental action and as the platform continues to grow it will be used to educate its users about the impact of fast fashion. These three things combined will hopefully have a great effect at discouraging fast fashion.”
Q: I love how users can choose an initiative to support! You’ve teamed up with Just One Tree, Coralive.org, and Hubbub. Why did you choose these organizations? How did you come into partnership with them?
ANGUS: “It was a combination of factors. Firstly, we loved the idea of the ESOOKO community being able to plant trees and restore corals because that means their donations have very tangible results. For instance, an ESOOKO user knows exactly what their transaction has led to if they decide to plant a tree. Also, whilst tree planting is a very well known means to combat climate change, coral restoring on the other hand is not. However, the coral reefs are in desperate need. They are fundamental to the health of the oceans – 25% of all marine life relies on them – and yet they are being destroyed by the heating of the oceans. They are also such an incredibly beautiful part of our planet. Coral reefs really epitomize for us how magical the planet is and, therefore, how tragic it is that we are killing it. And so we thought ESOOKO could really help bring the destruction of the reefs to the forefront of peoples’ attention and inspire them to defend our reefs.
We have partnered with Hubbub because they are determined to rid the world of fast fashion. Hubbub is an amazing collection of creative minds who are constantly campaigning against fast fashion and teaching people how to engage with slow fashion. So it’s no surprise that we believe them to be the perfect fit for an ESOOKO partnership.”
Q: Can sellers and buyers keep track of how much they’ve contributed to these initiatives?
ANGUS: “Sellers and buyers can keep track of how much they have bought/sold and what percentage of that was used to fund these initiatives. However, the functionality is going to vastly improve in this respect and the ESOOKO environmental features are going to become very, very exciting!”
Q: Many online platforms today lack in care for what is being sold. Many sellers use drop-shipping methods, thus encouraging fast fashion. How does ESOOKO mitigate this issue?
ANGUS: “That’s a great question and you are so right to shed light on this issue. I am not going to lie, as ESOOKO continues to grow, it will become harder and harder to keep track of every item that is being sold on the platform and whether it has come from unethical and unsustainable sources. However, we will be constantly educating our users against these practices because I’m sure many people who partake in them aren’t fully aware of how harmful they are. In addition, we will encourage users to get in contact with us if they notice other users engaging in these practices. Once we have investigated the issue, we will warn the user that they will be banned from ESOOKO if they continue to partake in something that we deem to be contrary to ESOOKO’s values.”
Q: What do you hope for ESOOKO’s future? Any exciting plans?
ANGUS: “We have really exciting plans. We built the current platform just to test whether this idea would catch on. It has very quickly caught on. And so, we will now start building a much more advanced version of ESOOKO that will bring the community feel right to the forefront of the marketplace and I’ve already said it once during this interview, but I’ll say it again – the environmental features are going to be AMAZING. As for our hope for ESOOKO’s future, our hope is to genuinely do what our slogan says – to build a fashion community that defends our planet. That doesn’t mean that our desire is simply for our users to defend our planet only when they are on ESOOKO, engaging in buying/selling. Our desire is for them to be inspired by the ESOOKO community to take that passion to defend our planet into all walks of their life. And one more thing – if we could help bring about the end to fast fashion along the way, we’d be pretty happy with that too…”
Be a part of the change by becoming a seller or buyer on ESOOKO’s marketplace. Keep up to date with launches of new features, website updates and educational resources on ESOOKO’s Instagram.
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