Discover 3 of the first clothes-swapping apps to arrive in the UK. It’s taken nearly a decade for it to catch on, but clothes swapping has finally found its stride. In 2019 it was nearly impossible for a week to pass and not find clothes-swapping meet-ups happening in London. This article has been updated since it was first published in 2019.
1. Nuw | The Thrift Swapping App (clothes swapping app)
Nuw is the most affordable and sustainable way to consume fashion. I remember meeting the founder Aisling Byrne years ago at an event and it’s been wonderful to see the app take off and turn into something truly incredible that’s making a real difference to the way we enjoy fashion.
The app’s tagline is simply “Swap the clothes you don’t want for clothes that you do.” and that’s about all you need to know. It’s a simple scan and upload setup with points being awarded for the item uploaded.
Check out the website and download the app: https://www.thenuwardrobe.com/
Personal Experience: I have not explored the app for a while, when it first launched it was targeting university students and the style, and type of clothing were not to my taste. it was full of fast-fashion and polyester, but now it seems to have pushed past that and offers a wider variety of clothing and a broader demographic appears to be swapping their clothes now too – not just students.
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2. The Swap Shop (clothes swapping website)
The Swap Shop has introduced an approval process, where they can carefully curate items, They do this to ensure every item is as new as you would expect to find it if you were shopping on the high street. For them, swapping means, you can keep shopping while keeping everything in circulation, knowing that your donated pieces have made someone else’s wardrobe very happy”.
Check out the website: https://www.theswapshopuk.com/shop
Personal experience: I have not used this one yet, but the UX and website layout looks nice, clean and easy to use.
3. Loanhood (clothes swapping events)
Loanhood has evolved over the last 5-years and sadly closed down its rental app to focus purely on clothes-swapping events. Their website lists their next pop-up clothes swap. They aim to keep fashion circulating by providing accessible and fun events that inspire diverse communities to rethink the way we experience, make, sell and buy fashion.
They have moved into event hosts and organisers of Swap Shops. They can help you if you are a business to engage with your customers, boost employee engagement and create events aligned with your ESG strategy
Check out the website: https://loanhood.com/
Personal experience: I’ve attended a few swaps organised by Loanhood and enjoyed them. Be warned there is no system or app to track your donations and redeem them at a later date. I lost my tokens pre-lockdown, and then lost my stampcard earlier this year. Over 5 years, I have donated hundreds of pounds worth of clothes over 4-separate occasions and not got any credits to show for it.
If you do want to get clothes in return for what you drop off, be very careful about your swapping token and/or stamp cards – if you lose them there’s nothing that can be done as it’s not tracked and recorded online.
Let me know if you’ve used the apps or websites, and what you think of them. If I have missed any clothes-swapping Apps or websites in the UK, or you run swapping events please feel free to leave details in the comments.
Updates 2024:
- Previously listed as no.1: Vinted has moved away from swapping and is primarily focused on selling garments and has now introduced designer items and verification. I’ve replaced it with Nuw Wardrobe.
- Previously listed as no.2 Swopped sadly closed down in 2022. I have replaced it with The Swap Shop
- Previously listed as no.3 The Swancy App, which no longer seems to be available – I have replaced this with Loanhood
