Renting clothes in Nepal is not an uncommon thing however, the trend is usually to rent clothes for cultural events, fancy dress competitions or dance performances. Hiring clothes for any other purpose is quite unheard of.
Kapada Rent, therefore, is one of a kind in Nepal since they rent out party clothes for formal and informal events and/or occasions. With the hopes of decreasing the clothing footprints, the venture touches social aspects of the clothing industry. Catch this interview with Mr. Samundra Raj Aryal, founder of Kapda Rent who elaborates more about his venture.
1. How did you start your company?
A couple of years back, I bought a suit for rupees 10,000 but I only wore it 3 times. It doesn’t fit me now so I can’t wear it anymore. I felt like the money I spent on the suit did not justify its use. Considering this problem, I, along with my friend Rabin Rokka, established a company that rents clothes. In the research stage, we realized that this problem is persistent among women compared to men.
My company, Kapada rent, is a private limited company and has two concepts. First and foremost, we provide clothes for rent. Secondly, it is also a platform for people to earn money by renting out their clothing pieces from their own wardrobe. We generally provide sari, lehenga, gown, suit and other party wear to our customers. We are planning to add dresses for evening wear, photo shoots, formal and cocktail parties. As of now, we get customers on a seasonal basis.
From the last few months, we have been providing gents formal wears as suit-pants and have been receiving awesome responses from them.
2. What social problem are you trying to solve in society?
On one hand, we have provided a platform for people to sell or rent their clothes and thus earn some money whereas on the other hand, we are giving another set of people to rent clothes from us in affordable prices. We particularly focus on making fashion economical for the middle class group of people.
Furthermore, research has proved that people send 90% of their clothes to landfills. The clothing industry is the second most polluting industry around the world. Hence, we are trying to decrease the number of new clothes being produced and old ones going to the landfill.
3. What have been some of the major challenges faced by ‘Kapada Rent’?
The major hurdle for us was bringing a change in the mindset of people.
However, today’s generation knows well that society needs a positive cycle of change and this acceptance has helped us out. More people are now willing to change their dogma about wearing second-hand clothes and today more people look out for renting options. This is clearly proven by more people reaching out to us through our social media pages.
We also ensure that proper dissemination of information takes place through our social media which in itself has helped us change the mindset of people.
4. How did the company look like in the past and how will it look like in the future?
Our company was officially registered only in 2018 while informally I had started working on the idea as soon as completing my undergraduate three years ago.
Initially, we used to buy clothes as we had not been able to reach out to people ready to rent their clothes.
Now, we have invested 5 lakhs and are planning to expand by setting our company in new municipalities and including designers too.
6. Does Kapada Rent operate online or offline?
We have both online and offline channels. For customers that prefer home delivery, they can order it online by choosing their clothes from our website/social media. For customers that prefer offline experiential renting, they can come to our store and select their desired apparels.
7. Do you consider yourself to be a social entrepreneur?
Initially, I didn’t quite resonate with the term social entrepreneur but now that I look at the positive impact my entrepreneurship has been generating, I like associating myself with the term.
For more information about this interesting company, please contact them on Facebook or write to Samundra Raj Aryal at aryalsea@gmail.com.
Originally published on blincventures.com
