Redbutton, a Sustainable Fashion brand in Nigeria, is set to launch its digital fashion exchange brand RedXchange this year.
The first of its kind in Africa, and targeted at ensuring a circular fashion system, RedXchange is a no-inventory fashion resale and rental platform that allows people to make or save money reselling and renting fashion items in their wardrobes. The platform ensures that one’s high fashion items, vintage pieces, red carpet and wedding dresses generate income for them rather than lying around idle and wearing out. It also means one get to save money renting desired fashion pieces from their owners for one-time use rather than outright purchase.
Led by the founder and CEO of Redbutton, Chioma Ogbudimkpa, the fashion-tech platform has received enormous support from global organizations in cash and tech credits to complete RedXchange’s development. Inspired by the flamboyant, rich cultural fashion in Nigeria, RedXchange is poised to become a phenomenon in circular fashion – as its people-to-people nature will benefit all stakeholders including sellers, lenders, renters, employees and partner organizations, as well as decreasing fashion production footprint.
RedXchange is reflective of three pillars of Redbutton -responsible production, supply chain transparency and circularity.
These pillars allow the fashion brand to ensure sustainable operation through the use of local artistry, upcycled materials, transparent supply chain and circular fashion process that leaves little room for waste output.
Since 2017, Redbutton has been an active advocate for sustainable fashion in Africa creating value through sustainable fashion production and advocacy. Redbutton uses technology and local artistry to create fashion products – via fusing upcycled, industrial and agro-waste materials like water hyacinth (invasive weed), coconut shells and indigenous handwoven and hand-dyed textiles to create premium fashion items for professional women, while empowering local artisans.
Redbutton’s innovative and tech outlook in sustainable fashion has led to its nabbing several local and international awards, such as its selection in 2020 to participate in the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week’s Global Talent Digital Showcase, as one of the five sustainable fashion champions from Nigeria. in 2021, founder, Ogbudimkpa was nominated to join the COP26 pre-discussions think-tanks addressing green transition in Africa through partnerships. In 2019, she emerged one of the ten finalists for the NICE program, and awarded a grant in 2023, and also selected to open Art Showcase, the British Council’s Creative Economy Support Programme, with her presentation Regenerate.
She was also one of the beneficiaries of Women Entrepreneurs 4 Africa (WE4A), a continent-wide competition where she emerged one of 99 African female founders selected for the programme.
The road to becoming one of the top five sustainable fashion champions in Nigeria started awhile back for Redbutton but its dedication to a sustainable and waste-free fashion production remains its driving force to innovation.
