Smart way of updating your closet

Kinza, in Arabic means ‘hidden treasure’. And re-using or re-discovering this treasure makes it ‘Rekinza’, says Nirali Vasisht, co-founder of Rekinza, a website to buy and sell pre-owned fashion luxury brands.

Four young girls — Stuti Bhageria, Ekansh Babbar, Vidisha Pasari including Vasisth, all from different fields, started this venture with an aim to cater to the needs of girls who dream of acquiring a Michael Kors handbag or a pretty little Zara black dress, or any other luxury brand without burning a hole in their wallet.

“We all, especially the girls keep on saying, ‘we have nothing to wear’ and at the same time all of us have an overflowing wardrobe. In this fast moving fashion, everyone wants to maintain that pace and update their closet. Therefore, we thought of taking the not-in-use items out of the closet and make them available to others who want to buy them.” says 27-year-old Stuti Bhageria.

Vasisht believes that the start-up which was launched a couple of months ago, is a much-needed enterprise and one of its kinds in India.

She says, “We wanted to do something of our own. After talking about a lot of ideas, this struck our minds. There was a need for such a platform that can help fashion freaks get their favourite brand at a very low price. Also there is no one like Rekinza in the market.  We find some similar platforms in the US, but not in India.

“Although there are some sites that sell second hand products, but none of them are particularly into fashion. And secondly, they being a peer-to-peer platform, you never know what you are going to get. There is no third party in between to felicitate your buying experience,” she adds.

But when it comes to owning a second-hand garment, the first question that rises in everybody’s mind is about its hygiene. Also, the worth of the product is a matter of concern for the customers.

On being asked how they overcome such views of the customers, Bhageria replied, “People are very keen towards selling things but when it comes to buying, quality, hygiene and price are the biggest concerns of the customers. But to our surprise, we got a positive response which broke our notion of people being skeptical towards pre-owned clothing. But we try and ensure the best of products to our customers. The cloths sent to us are steam cleaned ensuring hygiene. We validate every product that comes to our inventory and then only it is put there on the website. And if sometimes when we get items which are not good enough to sell, we have an option to return it to the seller or donate them to the poor”, she adds.

Starting with the participation of only friends and family, Rekinza is now a Pan-India undertaking. The ladies are planning to expand their business and start up a similar platform for men and children.