Selected by CG: The Belfast rental company starting a sustainable fashion revolution
Emily Hanna
It’s no secret that the fast fashion industry is destroying our planet. Our insatiable demand for cheaper and trendier clothes is responsible for a third of microplastics in the ocean, 20 per cent of global water waste and 10 per cent of global carbon emissions.
One of the major ways which fashion lovers can combat the growing fast fashion industry is the use of fashion rental companies. HURR is currently the largest online rental service in the UK, boasting brands from Prada to Jimmy Choo, with formal gowns, designer shoes and bags all readily available to rent. HURR was founded after Victoria Prew realised that “fast fashion had created a demand for newness that has no place in a sustainable future”, and with a mission statement of “doing good while looking good,” HURR was born. While this is a godsend for weddings, formals and finding that unforgettable NYE dress, it isn’t exactly providing more casual, night-out wear, especially for younger consumers. Enter Selected by CG, a new Belfast-based rental company.
After studying Journalism for several years, its 22-year-old founder Ceeva Gordon realised her passions lay in the fashion industry, and throughout lockdown, Ceeva amassed a following on TikTok. However, being reposted by ASOS for her haul videos made her conscious of the devastating effects fast fashion was having on the planet. Determined to catalyse change, she started her business, Selected by CG, in December 2021.
I met with Ceeva to discuss sustainable fashion and her goals for the business. She is of course dressed amazingly – definitely the girl to be trusted with your wardrobe!
How and why did you start your business?
“Basically, during lockdown I found myself doing around three or four ASOS orders a week. It was just out of control. I started doing hauls on TikTok that were getting hundreds of thousands of views. The more I was getting into this, the more I was wanting to buy clothes. ASOS reposted me multiple times on their Instagram and it was pushing me to buy more. For a time I did want to go into influencing/content creation and a lot of people start stuff like that, buying way too much. A lot of influencers return stuff afterwards, but they don't realise that most of the time once you return an item, it’s not sold again. Around August 2021, my 22nd birthday was coming up, and I had seen a couple of my favourite influencers wearing brands that I've never really heard of, that were a bit out of my budget. I started to look online for a corset from With Jean that I was absolutely obsessed with. I was trying to find it on Depop, and I saw a girl saying that she was renting it. I thought, ‘what is this?’ Obviously I know people will rent formal dresses, you know, dresses for weddings and things like that, but I've never heard of people just renting, you know, normal clothes. I found a girl on Instagram who had started her own rental company in London and who I had rented a few things from for my birthday, and for me and my boyfriend's anniversary. And then I thought, Belfast doesn't have anything like this. So I wanted to be the first person to jump on it.”
What are your goals for the business?
“In the next five years, I would love to have my own physical shop, more on an appointment basis. If people wanted to come in with their friends and to try on nice clothes, I would love to that. I would just like this entire thing to be a bit more mainstream. For example, girls in university are buying clothes on ASOS with next day delivery, to wear once, [whereas with renting] you have the opportunity to experiment with your own style and see what it is that you like and what doesn't suit you.
Size inclusivity is something that is so, so important to me because I know what it's like - it shouldn’t be only slim, tiny girls who should be able to wear designer clothes.
At the minute, [as a start-up] it's not in my budget to stock one item in multiple sizes. I'm hoping in the next two years, I'll be fully stocked on every size and it’ll make it so much easier for everyone.
I’m currently building a website because at the minute it is all through Instagram, so if I lost Instagram I'd obviously lose everything. So that will hopefully be ready for mid-May.”
Can you take me through your whole creative process (selection, photoshoots, renting)?
“When I first started I obviously had a small budget, it was also basically just what I was going to be able to get the wear of. A lot of the stuff I bought was in my size. People caught on to that and they liked the idea. I looked at Sophia and Cinzia, for example, and what their followers love to see them wear, [Items] I could see just a normal gal wanting to rent. Obviously as the business grows, so will the sizes and styles.
I think I'm really lucky because last summer a photographer reached out to me and I had my first taste of modelling. Then after that, different photographers around Belfast asked me to do stuff and I built good connections with creatives in Belfast. When I was ready to start my own business I had a lot of support from the creative scene in Belfast already.
[In terms of renting] I have different highlights on my Instagram page. One of them is a Stock Highlight, and you can just go through and see the sizes and the prices. I have the original retail price and how much I rent it for. At the minute we do a four-day rental, it's all just running through Instagram.”
What would you say to people aiming to shop more sustainably?
“I think a lot of people might be embarrassed about renting clothes, you know? There is a stigma around buying second-hand. It's not embarrassing to re-wear your clothes, I don't know where this came from. I think it's actually cool to be aware of the issues around the climate and the issues in the fashion industry, rather than ignoring them. I would just say, let's end the stigma.”
Do you have any advice on developing a personal style?
“This is such a common thing to say but I feel like you really need to invest in a good staple wardrobe. Everything I'm wearing right now is so plain; a grey top, a trench coat and blue jeans - it's things like that you have to invest in. Then for accessorising, just have loads of different rings and jewellery. Earrings that are maybe a bit more colourful really help.”
What are some current favourite pieces you’d love to stock at some point?
“There’s a brand called Mirror Palais that have just released a new collection with a Mediterranean summery kind of vibe. It's all very white, lacy, flowy - their stuff is just absolutely unbelievable. So if I could have just one thing from that collection, I think I would have this cami top. It’s white silk and it's around $400!”
Emily Hanna is a Culture reporter at The Scoop and an English student at Queen’s University Belfast