What if you took the ease of Rent the Runway, the curated options of Stitch Fix and combined them with the latest pieces plucked from Pittsburgh boutiques?
Carnegie Mellon University sophomore Siwei Xie is working to make that happen.
She’s the creator of Closet Infinite, a subscription-based website that borrows some of the best features of other online fashion services and gives them a Pittsburgh twist. Here’s how it will work: Shoppers are invited to browse the site and fill a box with three to five items stocked from local retailers, which will be shipped to them. Try on the pieces at home and rent or purchase your favorites. The rest can be returned for a new box of options. Pricing is still being ironed out.
Ms. Xie, 19, of Beijing, came up with the concept during an internship back home last summer.
“The company was doing something with a similar business model and was doing really well,” she says. “I thought, ‘Maybe we can bring this back to Pittsburgh?’ ”
In America, online shopping platforms — particularly subscription services — are thriving, too. Since 2014, they’ve grown by more than 800 percent, with more than 5.7 million subscription box shoppers in the U.S. As of April, Stitch Fix was the fifth most-visited subscription site, according to Hitwise, which tracks online trends.
When she moved to Pittsburgh to attend Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business, she didn’t know where to shop. Sure, there are malls, but not close to campus. Same with boutiques.
“There are nice boutiques in the Pittsburgh area, but they’re spread out and people might not be familiar with them,” Ms. Xie says.
Closet Infinite — a nod to the idea of having a never-ending flow of fresh fashions to choose from -— is designed to help expose Pittsburghers to the range of shopping options in their city, as well as make it easier for people who might not live near some of them to try them out.
The concept also could have benefits for boutiques. Jennifer Fleiss, one of the founders of Rent the Runway, calls the experience that her site provides “experiential marketing.” If clients enjoy a piece they borrowed from the website, they’re more likely to purchase a piece by that designer in the future.
Ms. Xie also envisions benefits for boutiques. Not only would they gain exposure, but also they would receive a percentage of the money made from garments rented or sold from their respective shops.
She’s in the process now of reaching out to store owners to secure partnerships for the website’s launch. In the meantime, she plans to test the model at a pop-up event on campus in late October. Beyond inventory from Pittsburgh boutiques, Ms. Xie is developing a student-focused component of the website where people could rent out their own new and lightly worn clothing in exchange for a piece of the profits. Students will be able to learn more about how they can get involved during the pop-up event.
With CMU being home to popular events like the yearly Lunar Gala fashion show, she hopes to tap into some of the enthusiasm for fashion on campus to elevate Closet Infinite, as well as the Pittsburgh style scene at large.
“With these kinds of fashion startups, we can really grab the attention of younger generations and the future of fashion in Pittsburgh can be more developed,” Ms. Xie says.
For updates on Closet Infinite’s launch and pop-up event, visit closetinfinite.wixsite.com/landing or follow the website on Facebook at www.facebook.com/closetinfinite.
Sara Bauknecht: sbauknecht@post-gazette.com or on Twitter and Instagram @SaraB_PG.
First Published: September 27, 2017, 4:30 p.m.
