Posts with tag designerlaundry

This is Part One of our interview with Patrick Robertson (CEO), Christina Angelacos (whose role ranges daily from Marketing to Sales to Operations to Customer Care), and Joselle Yokogawa (Fashion Director), the folks behind DesignerLaundry, a high fashion online boutique that sells designer clothing donated by celebrities, stylists, and others and donates a portion of the proceeds to one of several charities.

Often, people try to see the world in black and white. Either you love fashion and crave designer clothes like Colin Farrell craves a cigarette, or you're more charitably-minded and wouldn't dream of spending that kind of money on clothes when you could be feeding a child or building a home with it.

What makes DesignerLaundry more than just an online shop of discounted designer duds is the fact that they give back. They support a number of charities: American Cancer Society, World Wildlife Foundation, Alzheimer's Association, Planned Parenthood, St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, and Musicians on Call.

Christina explained how the charities have been chosen, saying, "The charities we support have been chosen in two ways. First, the three of us each chose a cause we were passionate about for our own personal reasons. My father is living with a vascual dementia so I chose the Alzheimer's Association, and Patrick was raised near a Game Reserve in South Africa, so his natural choice was the WWF."

"My father recently passed away from pancreatic cancer and during the whole experience I did a lot of my own research on the disease," added Joselle. "The American Cancer Society was an obvious charity for me."

The remaining charities are chosen by the clients who donate clothes to DesignerLaundry, allowing those who donate to "turn their wears into donor dollars. We like to think of it as a cycle of giving," said Christina.

If you're interested in learning more about DesignerLaundry (or just want to start shopping), you can check out their website here, or read the DesignerLaundry blog.

While there's no doubt that discount designer duds that benefit charity is a great idea, you're probably wondering where these clothes come from -- nobody wants a dress that's been worn a million times by a random 20-something socialite, right?

You have no need to worry with DesignerLaundry. According to Christina, "I'm proud to say we're pretty picky. First and foremost, the merchandise has to be essentially flawless. Unlike other websites that sell vintage or used designer clothing, we pride ourselves on selling items that are in new (sample) or nearly new condition. Must of our donated inventory has never even been worn and we receive it with the designer labels still attached. If an item has been worn it's usually been down the runway or the red carpet."

As far as the styles they sell, it "has to be saleable," says Joselle. "If ... any of our colleagues wouldn't wear it, then chances are our customer wouldn't wear it either." However, you will find some other items that are hard to find or iconic. Once example is the Prada wetsuit jacket. "Sure not everyone can get away with wearing a piece like that. But that collection put Prada on the map," says Joselle, "and that particular piece, in my opinion, is very symbolic. It's a collectible."

According to Patrick, the clothes come from a variety of sources, including celebrities, publicists, and designers. He adds, "The majority of our inventory consists of items from taste-makers within the fashion industry (press/editors), socialites, and the like."

Designer labels you can find at DesignerLaundry include Catherine Malandrino, Alexander McQueen, Burberry, Chanel, Givenchy, Vivienne Westwood, and many, many more.