‘Big shared wardrobe’: Amsterdam ‘fashion library’ where donated clothes, new and used, can be rented or bought takes aim at textile waste

Globally a truckload of unwanted clothes is dumped or burned every second. Fashion lovers in Amsterdam can dispense with fast fashion by renting clothes instead

LENA, the fashion library lets members who join for US$11 rent items of donated clothing for less than US$1. Its founder hopes clothing brands will follow suit

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A woman models clothes at LENA, the “fashion library” in a trendy area in central Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Members can rent new and used fashion items for between €0.50 and €2 (US$0.55 to $2.20). They can also buy them. Photo: Instagram/@lena_library

Published: 4:15am, 8 Jan 2024

Ikram Cakir hands over a multicoloured blue and white blouse and selects a similar item, this time in hot pink. Welcome to Amsterdam’s “fashion library”.

Billed as one of the world’s only physical centres for renting used and new clothing, the “big shared wardrobe” in the Dutch capital is a response to clothes waste and fashion industry pollution.

Hundreds of brightly coloured trousers, coats and overalls are sorted by brand or style, each with a tag indicating a sale price or how much it costs to rent the item per day.

The daily rental price varies from around 50 euro cents (US 55 cents) to €2, depending on the customer’s loyalty – how often he or she rents clothes and how many are borrowed.

The exterior of LENA, the fashion library in central Amsterdam. Photo: Instagram/@lena_library

For Cakir, a 37-year-old NGO campaign manager, the concept is “just really good”.