LAST month, Forbes announced its annual ‘30 Under 30’ list, with a host of Irish names making their way onto the highly coveted rolecall. One entry stands out for a thrifty contribution to the fashion world.
29-year-old Aisling Byrne, from Malahide in Dublin, is the founder of thrift/swapping fashion app ‘Nuw’. Nuw is a heavensend for those prone to overindulgence in shopping or looking to make their 2023 wardrobe a little more environmentally friendly.
Aisling’s app is relatively new, having only launched in 2020. But it’s grown quickly, having already amassed up to 68,000 downloads. Nuw’s mission statement is to make fashion sustainable and affordable.
Opening up the app, it’s easy to see why the Trinity graduate has garnering so much acclaim. The interface is incredibly well laid out and bursting at the seams with users (called ‘Renuwers’) looking to offset and swap clothing.
Renuwers upload their preloved clothing to the app, earning themsleves silver or gold coins, which act as currency on the app. Coins can then be used to request a pre-owned item from another user (pending a €0.99 transaction fee). Users can also arrange to swap items amongst themselves.
Nuw makes it relatively easy to shop sustainably, managing to find a simple way to make slow fashion more affordable and easily accessible. This is a refreshing take given the impact the fashion industry has been reported as having on the planet.
The app also takes into account that users have busy lives of their own, and so puts an emphasis on lowering expectations on shipping times, within reason.
Nuw is a must have for eco-conscious fashionistas. It’s available on the Apple App Store and on Google Play.
