LetsBab is an app which is shifting the centres of fashion to you and your friends. The app has established a new way to shop which allows you to get paid or support a good cause.
In a world of fashion influencers showing you their latest clothes haul of all the hottest trends to get your hands on, we can all get too carried away and find ourselves clicking on the “EXTREME Wardrobe Declutter” videos in no time. In comes the app that disrupts the cycle with a more personal approach. With its “everyone’s influence should be rewarded” attitude, LetsBab puts consumers directly in control of their carefully considered purchases.
In the digital age, it can be far too easy to build up a collection of clothes which looked different in that Instagram post, don’t suit or that we don’t love. Just last year, about £140 million worth of clothes ended up in landfill, according to textile recycling charity WRAP UK. Despite initiatives like H&M’s £5 off £25 voucher for every bag you recycle and charity shop donations.
According to Close The Loop, clothes made from synthetic fabrics can take from two decades to two centuries to decompose. During this time, they emit methane, a harmful greenhouse gas. Methane produced from non-fossil sources like food can remove carbon from the air. However, methane can also trap heat in the atmosphere if it is released before it is burnt. This leads to the greenhouse effect, where the trapping of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere continually raises the temperature by trapping heat that is unable to escape. This leads to climate change, which, in turn, can lead to disastrous impacts on the environment.
Now is the time to change the game and make fashion about owning pieces you genuinely love to limit the impact of discarded clothes on the environment. LetsBab has that message at the forefront.
Dubbed Netflix for brands, the app allows users to browse through various popular and independent brands to select items. You can not only shop for yourself but recommend things to your friends.
Here’s how it works. When you open up the app, downloadable from the Apple Store or Google Play, you can select from the grid displayed whether you want to shop Women, Men, Kids or Lifestyle. Immediately browse through a plethora of popular, designer and independent brands. Select items you know will be perfect for your family or friends, hit the LetsBab button to share via e-mail, WhatsApp, text message or otherwise, and earn 5% of the price when they purchase the item as a reward for your recommendation. It’s as simple as that!
This is a win-win-win situation. Your friend has an item they love; you earn a commission and “the brand has behind them genuine advocates, not someone who’s just been paid to say they like something, ” LetsBab’s Jeanette shares. A method that works.
During London Fashion Week, Colèchi spoke to Jeanette Wong Chief Change Officer at LetsBab who told us “Normally, with social media and other platforms, the typical conversion rate can be like maximum 3%, whereas ours is 11%, which is much higher than the industry average.” The conversion rate is the number of people who receive a recommendation who make a purchase, this is an impressive figure. Janet continued “I think it just shows when you’re being communicated a message from someone that you follow, it’s very different to having a personal connection with someone.”
‘Normally, with social media and other platforms, typical conversion rate can be like maximum 3%, whereas ours is 11%, which is much higher than industry average.’
Jeanette Wong
What’s more, you can choose whether to keep your earnings, select a charity to donate them to or split them by selecting the hand and heart icon on the bottom bar of your screen. Currently, you can choose from charities Lonely Whale, End Youth Homelessness, Legacy of War Foundation, Movember, Crisis Text Line, CoppaFeel! and more. Half of the users choose the option for their purchase to have a more powerful impact.
“It’s something that we feel very passionate about, and we’re very proud to say that 50% of our users do choose to donate to charity,” Janet explains.During the pandemic, LetsBab is also donating £2 per purchase to NHS charities.
Creating change becomes a reality. You can browse through “the Deliveroo of shopping malls” to shop through your interests only. The landing page of each brand can let you find out more about their history and values before searching through their products. This allows you to make that first step towards shopping ethically and supporting brands whose interests you share.
Sustainability has largely been accepted by the fashion industry as a crucial outlook and consideration for the future of the industry and the planet. With 80% of clothes continuing to make their way to landfill, now is the time to break the cycle. But it can be challenging to know where to start. One way is to only purchase things you love or support clean fashion brands.
If sustainability is important to you, Elvis & Kresse will prove a match. The brand has fashioned items out of old fire hoses since 2005. Now they extend their rescue mission across parachute silk, leaflet printing blankets, auction banners and more. These materials are transformed into various accessories from laptop bags to belts, purses, crossbody bags and briefcases. Elvis & Kresse boasts quality products which are made to last, through highly skilled craftsmanship. Instead of lying in a landfill, these unique fashion pieces are styling your next outfit and half of their profits donated to charities linked to their rescued materials.
“It’s a real opportunity to create social change through an activity we do all the time, which is shopping,” Janet says of the ability to shop for yourself through your own interests on this app.
Holding power to create a ripple effect of positivity, with Let’s Bab, you can be the influence on the fashion world. You can be the influence on you and your friends’ wardrobes.
