Hong Kong start-up finds space in wardrobe storage market for people on the go
Pakt and global counterparts don’t just warehouse your clothes and shoes, but catalogue them online, clean and repair them, or donate them to charity, and employ stylists to help put together a look. They’ll even organise your closet
Space is a luxury in any city, and Hong Kong is no exception. For many years fashion lovers in the city have faced the challenge of fitting their growing clothes and accessories collections into their limited wardrobe space. Until now options have been restricted to mass-market storage facilities, such as Klosit, or dry cleaners, who will store selected items such as furs for a short period of time.
With such a glaring gap in the market it was only a matter of time before professional and luxury wardrobe storage solutions would land in Hong Kong.
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“The practice of consuming, collecting and preserving fashion as ‘wearable art’ has grown globally. This isn’t specific to Asia. However, Hong Kong does have a concentration of wealthy, fashionable residents living in apartments, plus the need for seasonal wardrobes. The climate also requires special handling of precious textiles or else they will be ruined,” says Doug Greenberg, co-founder and vice-president of Garde Robe Online.
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Already popular in places such as Los Angeles and New York, luxury storage companies offer services that go beyond storing goods. Garde Robe, which was founded in 2001 and includes clients such as fashion designer Oscar de la Renta, bills itself “wardrobe and archive management experts”.
In addition to offering museum-quality storage (members receive a condition report and garment care service recommendations), it also catalogues and professionally photographs each item to create a cyber closet online which members can use to search, create looks and select items for on-demand delivery.
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Add-ons include closet organising, fashion styling, personal shopping, luggage packing, at-home seamstress/tailoring services, consignment and charitable donation advisory, and historical fashion research.
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“Garde Robe is truly a bespoke service. All services are customised to suit our members’ particular needs. We listen to their feedback. For example, early on, several members required access to their wardrobe from various locations, so we established an elegant and convenient alternative to traditional packing and luggage services with our luggage-free valet service, which we pioneered in 2004,” says Greenberg.