POOL: Experience fashion without owning it.

Berlin-based rental platform POOL offers their members a curated library of clothes to ‘stream’ at will.

POOL began after founders Rune Orloff and Kristian Rix asked themselves a compelling question: ‘Why do we want to permanently own clothes when style is so temporary?’ Using that as a jumping off point, they started POOL to urge us to experience fashion without ever actually owning it. Instead of ever buying anything, POOL empowers their members with total wardrobe freedom, letting them swap pieces at will.

Hundreds of high-end garments from dozens of sought-after brands are already available in their Kreuzberg inventory, including COMMES DES GARCONS, JOHNELLIOTT, NANUSHKA, NUDIE JEANS, PATTA and SOULLAND,. While interest in rental is skyrocketing, the menswear market has been left hanging: and POOL has dived headfirst into the void. Sustainability is considered at all times to ensure that rental is a greener option than buying new - all pieces are delivered by e-scooter and stored in reusable coatbags - zero-waste, zero-emissions, zero-ownership.

Unlike fixed subscription models, POOL can keep pieces for as long as they want. Whether you’re fed up with your choice after a day or an entire year, you can swap the piece for something new at the Kreuzberg studio or have it picked-up on the same day. While all of POOL’s pieces are worn out around the city they’re never worn-out; every single item is dry-cleaned between members and minor repairs are sorted free of charge.

Co-founder Kristian Rix says: ‘When we provide access to some of the best fashion brands out there and on top of that make it a sharing concept it reflects what we like about fashion. We love the parts about fashion that are about refreshing your own look, challenging your own style and the surprising looks from your friends when you show up in something new. We love the creativity, beauty, aesthetics, commentary and playful references in fashion. This is what we want to have our users enjoy even more without limits. We want to celebrate fashion in its diversity and encourage our users to dare more, because if it wasn’t the right piece for you you simply swap it for something else.’

HOW IT WORKS:

• You choose to pay for a set number of items to enjoy each month, starting from 9EU per piece.
• Wear them to your heart’s content for as long as you like, and swap them same-day via visiting POOL’s studio or getting your piece picked-up by their fleet of e-scooters.
• POOL will dry-clean your items before returning them to their studio and hang them up ready for the next member. ∞ Repeat ad infinitum.

POOL is gradually giving early access to people from their extensive waiting list, joining their collaborative family of local stylists, creatives and artists. They’ll be opening up their service to all Berliners in early September and hosting more in-studio events as restrictions continue to ease.