In an attempt to meet the challenge in concerns to clothing waste, as well as encouraging a change in attitude to more sustainable fashion consumption in the city of Amsterdam, a fashion library has now been launched. This new approach, which has been launched today in the centre of Amsterdam is to change the way people buy clothes by providing a more sustainable model than the existing retail one.

The Amsterdam Fashion Library store in a former warehouse in the hip neighborhood of Jordaan is stuffed with hundreds of designer, second-hand, and retro pieces of clothing, accessories, and shoes. Users of the library are allowed to take certain items for a certain time, as would be considered in a library that has books. P2PLA is a new consumption logic in the fashion industry that aims to lower negative environmental effects while enabling people who are interested in fashion to change garments as often as they want freely.

This falls at a right time when fashion industries are under pressure to reduce their impacts on the environment. Fast fashioning especially has been accused of being hectic in wasting clothing products as approximately millions of them are thrown away in landfills each year. To this end, the Amsterdam Fashion Library aims to solve the problem in the fashion industry by implementing a circular economy model.

Founder and creative director Lisa van der Meer explained the concept: ‘‘Currently, we want to change the approach to clothing possession.” If the clothes are shared, the number of garments made and, thereafter, the all-too-familiar ‘throwaways’ can be slashed dramatically while stylish freedom remains unimpeded.

Some of the library contains collections from various designers which include some from the new generation designers who are creating designs that are classic, fashionable and durable. Patrons can check out a maximum of five items and hold for two weeks with an option to renew or exchange. There are various membership categories, to accommodate people according to their budget and their aims to buy fashionable clothes.

Education and community engagement is being one of the primary aspects of the Amsterdam Fashion Library. It also contains a working space where people can learn about the sustainable fashion, proper care for the used clothes, and reusing the products. Styling sessions and, guest speaker lectures, fashion designers and industry specialists are part of the library activities also.

Since its launch, there has been regional fashion brands and designers in the Netherlands who have donated pieces that are showcased at the library. Such partnership between the library and fashion industry is viewed as a proper attempt to change the situation towards the sustainable fashion system in Netherlands.

It has been endorsed by environmental organizations due to the ability of the concept to reduce clothing waste considerably. Current research shows that the citizen in the Netherlands probhets 46 new pieces of clothing in a given year most of which gets worn a few times before being sent to the bin. The fashion library model could assist in changing such a cycle of excessive consumption of apparel and the resulting generation of fashion waste.

The Amsterdam Fashion Library also responds to the continuously developing concept of sustainability, which is more and more frequently considered by the community, and especially by the younger population. The proxy we find here is that millennials and Gen Z consumers are willing to pay for products that are sustainable and the library presents the library as a worthy substitute for conventional shopping among this demographic.

Lately, municipal authorities have declared their support to the effort as it dovetails with other green goals in the Dutch city. This is a step forward to making Amsterdam the city it is known for – a sustainable city that’s moving towards a circular economy.

Although the idea is novel for Amsterdam, there are similar projects in other world cities that have proved viable. Still, the new concept of the Amsterdam Fashion Library deemed the effort larger and bolder. More so there are intentions of increasing the library and opening branches in the future, this library could inspire other cities on how to address the issue of clothing waste.

The fashion library concept also plays a factor of concern with regard to access to fashion. Since the apparel and accessories are from designer brands, it ensures that people who cannot afford those high-end fashions can get to wear them for events, though they can only borrow them since the main idea is not for the masses but for the once-in-a-while luxury. This aspect has especially been loved by most fashion lovers who get a chance to try out several styles without having to spend money on clothing.

Like with any form of novelty, the Amsterdam Fashion Library has some problems: Mandatory, more general concerns include the successful preservation and tidiness of the garments, stock control, and providing relevant information about the proper use of borrowed items to members, among others, tasks that are characteristic of a library team. Moreover, altering consumer behavior and their attitudes to the ownership of clothes will also require a process.

Nevertheless, I foresee some of these challenges, especially if the Amsterdam Fashion Library has only recently started receiving the public, and enthusiasts have flocked to it with gratitude for this idea. The occasions have also proved to be highly effective in attracting new members to the library, especially in the first day that this library was opened to the public. Some said they were quite eager to be able to update their clothing collection locally and ethically.

That is why the experience of the Amsterdam Fashion Library has potential for further development in the sphere of fashion as well as consumers’ behavior. If the model works out then this idea could be replicated in other cities or would perhaps bring pressure to bear on mainline retailers to think more sustainably.

For Amsterdam that is increasingly nowadays promoting itself as the sustainability and innovative city, the fashion library means the transition the fashion industry towards the circular economy model in the city. It subverts the established conventions of ownership and consumption, and gives the audiences a preview of the replacing paradigms of Populin fashion that recognize lending and borrowing as more superior to owning.