Homegrown circular economy startup goes for growth
- 08 February, 2022 10:11
Hot on the heels of a partnership with The Iconic, Australian circular economy startup, AirRobe, has brought on Sephora’s former general manager and professional marketer as its new GM.
Beth Glancey has spent the last two-and-a-half years with luxury retail conglomerate, LVMH, overseeing the Sephora Australia and New Zealand business. Prior to this, she built her career through a variety of marketing, digital, ecommerce and divisional leadership roles, including marketing director then GM of Benefit Cosmetics Australia, head of online and ecommerce at David Jones and Toys R Us, and online marketing manager at Dyson.
In a statement, AirRobe said Glancey’s appointment is another accelerator in driving growth and momentum. The startup has received two Australian Government funding grants to commercialise and scale its Circular Wardrobe offering: The Boosting Female Founders grant and Accelerating Commercialisation from AusIndustry.
AirRobe offers a 'circular wardrobe' product that enables fashion retailers to show their customers the resale value of a purchase upfront and resell, rent or recycle their purchases. The startup launched with online retailer, The Iconic, in October last year and has also partnered with Rebecca Vallance and P.E. Nation. In addition, it’s integrated with several ecommerce platforms including Shopify.
AirRobe CEO, Hannon Comazzetto, said Glancey brings extensive experience and knowledge across luxury retail to AirRobe. “Beth’s leadership, talent and energy will be pivotal in achieving scale across Australia and NZ,” she said.
Glancey said she was immediately drawn to AirRobe’s mission and innovative approach to partnering with retailers to kickstart the circular economy.
“I’m looking forward to bringing my experience and skills to a startup that is genuinely moving the fashion industry in a positive direction. Re-commerce is the future of fashion and AirRobe is paving the way,” she commented.
Comazzetto, who founded AirRobe in 2018, cited growing consumer desire to be more environmentally and socially conscious.
“There is a rapid shift in consumer values towards sustainability and conscious consumption as people are becoming hyper aware of the impact of fashion on landfill. People want to be part of the circular economy, but there aren’t enough tools to make it easy and fun to do so,” she said. “We are building the infrastructure for the circular economy - in a way that benefits retailers, their customers and the environment.”
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