The Volte has announced the appointment of Kellie Hush as the creative director of the luxury dress-sharing platform.
Hush steps into the new role with the platform effective immediately. She was the editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar from 2012 to 2018 and recently the acting CEO of The Australian Fashion Council.
The Volte quickly has risen in popularity over the past year. Bookings have doubled in the last quarter, with more than 250,000 monthly users active and 100,000 items listed on the platform.
Hush said: “A sustainable circular economy is key to the survival of the fashion industry.
“Every fashion business with a touchpoint in both the supply chain and product life cycle must recognise their responsibility and actively contribute to textile circularity and reduction of waste.
“The Volte is a pioneer in the peer-to-peer fashion rental space and is changing how Australian consumers approach fashion. It’s an exciting space to be working in as we can already see the consumer shift away from fast fashion, which for too long has promoted overshopping and a disposable approach to fashion,” she added.
The Volte aims to make a positive impact on the fashion industry which is the second-largest contributor to CO2 emissions behind the oil industry.
Data from a survey by the platform revealed that over the last year there has been a sizeable shift toward designer fashion with a 300% increase in Australians buying from labels as they can now earn from their wardrobe with luxury pieces.
Bernadette Olivier, co-founder of The Volte, said: “This highlights how consumers now see fashion as an investment rather than as disposable. This has the potential to dramatically disrupt the $3 trillion fast fashion industry.”
“There’s this realisation that you can buy that Zimmermann dress and it pays itself off – so that dress can easily become cost-neutral, or an investment making money,” she added.