Fashion rental startup Style Theory cuts staff
Singapore
FASHION rental startup Style Theory has laid off at least 28 of its employees in Indonesia and Singapore, representing about 10 per cent of its workforce, sources told BT.
About 11 employees in Singapore were affected in the first wave this April, while less than five employees were axed in the second wave in June, BT understands.
Founders had also told staff that they would be taking a 50 per cent pay cut, while all employees in the startup "had to agree" to take a pay cut of at least 5 per cent till further notice. Some employees were also put on long-term unpaid leave. Affected employees include executives in content, operations, merchandise and customer experience roles.
When queried by BT, the Singapore-headquartered startup declined to comment.
Social networking site LinkedIn lists over 70 Style Theory employees in Singapore, in roles ranging from marketing and business development to data analytics, merchandising and brand design. Some 200 LinkedIn users - across countries such as Indonesia, Australia and Singapore - have identified themselves as employees of Style Theory, although this might not be entirely reflective of its headcount to date.
Style Theory is a platform for renting designer apparel in Indonesia and Singapore, and was founded in 2016 by Raena Lim and Chris Halim to counteract the waste created by fast fashion. Subscribers can choose a few items to rent each month from Style Theory's inventory of over 40,000 designer outfits and around 2,000 bags for a monthly fee.
A month ago, it expanded into Hong Kong through the launch of Style Theory Bags, where subscribers can rent from its collection of designer bags starting from HK$899 (S$159.70) per month.
The startup also has a flagship store in Orchard Road in Singapore, which it opened late last year. Its store, together with three other self-collection and drop-off points, has been temporarily closed from April 7 as the company noted in an Instagram post that it will operate online. Subscriptions will be fulfilled mainly through deliveries and collections.
The company in December last year announced it secured US$15 million in funding for its Series B round, backed by lead investor Softbank Ventures Asia, with participation from Alpha JWC Ventures and the Paradise Group. This brought the total amount raised by the company to US$23.8 million. It was last valued at US$67.4 million after the fresh funding, according to venture investment database VentureCap Insights.
Businesses in the sharing economy - such as Style Theory - have long harnessed the power of technology to make it easy for strangers to share items such as clothing to increase cost advantages and convenience.
However, it turns out that sharing is more daring than caring when a global infectious disease is raging on, and businesses in the sharing economy might not be out of the woods anytime soon.
Observers told BT in June that such businesses will now have to grapple with plummeting revenues while fixed costs remain high. Pressure is mounting for cash-burning startups to cut costs quickly in order to stay afloat amid the pandemic - despite potential after-effects on its future workforce.
