Alumna Frankie Theakston and her sister Nicole launch Bandi on 30 September

Alumna provides sustainable alternative to fast fashion

Alumna Frankie Theakston (Mathematics, 2017) and her sister Nicole are taking on the fast fashion industry with their new app encouraging clothes swapping.

Their creation – Bandi App - launches on 30 September and allows users to swap the everyday items they never wear for new-to-them clothing from someone else’s wardrobe.

The idea came to them after Frankie discovered that fast fashion is the second biggest polluter in the world.

Frankie says: “I was travelling and my sister came to visit me and we started swapping clothes like we always do and I just kind of joked ‘wouldn’t it be great if everyone had a sister to swap with!’

“I did some research and found that the fashion industry churns out 80 billion items of clothing every year, even though there are only seven billion people on the planet. Why do we need all those clothes?! Wouldn’t it be better to have the option to trade rather than always buying new?”

When COVID hit and Frankie found herself stuck abroad she dedicated her time to developing Bandi. At the same time the sisters set up a Facebook group to gauge interest and it really took off. They were then able to pitch successfully for the investment they needed for development.

Frankie says: “Our initial launch is in the UK on IoS and then our next update will to be include Android. After that we will be looking for additional investment to expand geographically as we have already seen interest from people in other parts of the world.

“There is no charge to list items on Bandi, people just pay the postage for the swaps, and we help match people with others of a similar size and with similar fashion taste so it is easy for the user.”

Bandi are also signing up Ambassadors to help spread the word about the app – people who are equally passionate about the environment and sustainability and keen to make a difference.

You can learn more about Bandi via the website.

Date: 15 September 2021