This October, swapping went West as The Clothing Exchange launched in Perth. The inaugural swap was held at Hotel Northbridge on Tuesday 27 October 2009 and was well attended. Morph Me Image Consultants were on hand to offer style advice to the ladies while they sipped on their bubbly prior to the swap commencing. After a short welcome and ‘how to participate’ speech, the ladies of Perth got to swapping. It was a great event with many happy faces and ladies leaving with armfuls of lovely new clothes to love! Many thanks to our wonderful volunteers Sam, Elise, Carlie, Deanne and Dana who worked so hard to make the event run smoothly.
October 20, 2009
Spring Swapping with Whitehorse City Council
On Sunday just passed, as a keen team of three we jumped in the new Clothing Exchange van and headed for Nunawading Civic Centre. We were happy to reunite with Kate Patkin and Kirsten Friend- the wonderful women who ensure that the Whitehorse City Council precinct has a great festive time. The Spring Festival was the order of the sunny day with the centre filled to the brim with stalls and entertainment. Shame we were scheduled for the same time as Vasily as we would have like to learn more about his garden! It was a smooth-running swap for a nice diverse crowd, with grannies bringing their vintage nightgowns to swap for the young ladies casual wear. The denim seemed the highlight as many happy swappers left with new jeans amongst their pile. We left the lovely Council ladies with a swap-capacity-building program kit- so they can launch their own swaps in the future but we sure hope they call us again!
October 20, 2009
RMIT Business Plan Competition
Last wednesday Kate and Juliette attended the RMIT Business Plan Competition presetation night – and what a night it was! It was a delight to see the boys from ourevent.info win the big prize; such a worthwhile project that definitely deserves the funding and support. The Clothing Exchange also managed to squeeze in and be awarded the Encouragement Award, which really took us by surprise.
So a big Thankyou to RMIT for involving us in this amazing competition and Prof Margaret Gardner AO and Marcus Powe for their continual support.
October 20, 2009
Pitching at the World Social Enterprise Forum
For the first time, the World Social Enterprise Forum was held in Melbourne and RMIT Seeds ensured that The Clothing Exchange was invited into the Lion’s Den to pitch their project to a panel of investors. Kate unraveled her spiel- got a few laughs over discussions of ‘housefill’ and other wasteful truths about overconsumption. The idea appealed to the judges who thought their daughters should come and swap too, but they also advised us to not try and achieve too much but to focus on what we do best- hosting great swaps in Australia. So should The Clothing Exchange refute the judges wise words and extend across the globe? I think we’ll have a hard time curbing our will to dream and invent more ways to share swapping! The Forum was a great opportunity to meet and reconnect with some great social entrepreneurs out there… Bronwyn Darlington from Rise up ethical clothing was there and Danny, the CEO from Engineers without Borders was up for a friendly chat. Google both those organisations because they’re up to some exciting stuff!
October 12, 2009
Welcome Perth
It is our greatest pleasure to annouce that the gorgeous city of Perth with be hosting home to The Clothing Exchange! Vanessah and Mia will be the lovely hosts at the events, with the first one scheduled on Thursday 27th October! So book your tickets online to secure your spot.
For all related Perth enquiries please email Vanessah on perth@clothingexchange.com.au
October 1, 2009
Rethreads Sydney Swap Extravaganza
Some amazing photographs from Rethreads in Sydney – the largest swap known of attracting around 1700 people! Unbelievable!
Happy swappers!
and of course the amazing team in Sydney who made this all happen!!
September 23, 2009
September Swap – The Perfect Exchange Event
The Clothing Exchange team raised their cocktail glasses and toasted to a swap well. The September swap worked like a charm and was and even thoroughly enjoyed by all. The praise flowed from patrons as they left our Spring Fashion Week frock swap with bags full of glamourous garments. And it was another swap where some of us wished we were on the other side of the action and could swap to our hearts content. Thanks to all the lovely and generous swappers who contributed such wonderful wears and made it so fun for all. We are set to swap at Fed Square for the remaining swaps for 2009- so let us know if you’re keen for another Lily Blacks event and we’ll see what we can sort! We do so love our charming new deco home with Josh our cocktail guru host…
September 23, 2009
The Clothing Exchange – finalist in RMIT Business Plan Competition!
Behind the swapping scene, Juliette and Kate have been busy preparing to pitch for the RMIT Business Plan competition. Juliette has drawn upon her amazing Masters-of-marketing skills to put together an exciting proposal for world swapping domination and through the first two rounds of the competition- hers was the highest scoring submission!
So on Monday just passed, both Juliette and Kate had stomachs full of butterflies as they prepared and practiced for this super-scary pitch to a bundle of prestigious impressive business folks in the tall tower of Ernst and Young. But their love of swapping rang true and the pitch was nearly perfect and now we cross our fingers and await the results…
September 23, 2009
Oxfam Exchange for Change this Saturday!
Yes your frocks and your football can fit in the one day as the swap is set to kick-off at 11am. You’ll have time to grab a garment or 6 and head to your BBQ by the time the big game starts. There are still tickets for the swap and the best bit is that $5 of every ticket is donated directly to Oxfam. We’re swapping in the spirit of their ‘Exchange for Change’ initiative.
So jump on line or grab a ticket at the door! See you swapping soon…
The Clothing Exchange for change
11am Saturday September 26th
BMW Edge, Federation Square
September 16, 2009
Rethreads by The Clothing Exchange Sydney
This Saturday 19th September, The Clothing Exchange, together with Carriageworks will be hosting Rethreds – a clothing, music and book mass swapathon!
Clothing is your currency at Rethreads – bring your best cast-offs to CarriageWorks on Saturday 19 September, and exchange them for new pieces to reinvigorate your wardrobe, music collection and bookshelf for FREE!
There is no entry fee, and you can take part in this community event for free.
It’s the most GFC-friendly event around – no money changes hands… if you bring 10 pieces, you can swap for 10 pieces.
Please note there is a limit of 20 items of clothing, but unlimited for everything else. This is to ensure quality is upheld and queues do not hinder the day.
Rethreads is the ultimate shopping experience for bargain-hunters, the style-saavy, and the sustainability-conscious. The main event is the clothes swap – an extravaganza of pre-loved fashion, fused with good music and great reads.
The exchange will be divided into three areas, where you can swap clothes for clothes, music for music and books for books.
The best of local music from 2SER, Fbi and an awesome line up of live bands fabricate the soundtrack to your retail therapy. Once you’ve swapped, cruise the intoxicating range of other stalls and chill out in the bar and café.
