The fast fashion industry is vicious circle. An endless loop of buying, wearing, wasting. And then all over again. For the one who needs to pay - our environment - the price is too high. But there is a growing opposition: slow fashion. A cultural trend focusing on sustainable and long-lasting use of clothes. It could not fit better to the brand Perwoll and their mantra: it doesn't always have to be new.

At the About You Fashion Week 2021 we wanted to challenge the fast fashion industry and raise awareness for a more conscious fashion consumption. And, of course, we wanted to take the opportunity to position Perwoll in the life of our fashion- and sustainability-conscious target group. The objective was to bring contemporary cultural relevance to Perwoll’s long-standing claim “New? no, washed with Perwoll,” and once and for all stress Perwoll’s most recent communication strategy: Rethink Fashion.

Hijack the runway at the About You Fashion Week and pretend you’re a new fancy fashion brand. Reveal you’re not a new fancy fashion brand, but Germany’s leading detergent for color renewal and fiber repair. And that your “new collection” is second-hand, upcycled and upgraded. A collection brought to life as a collaboration between Perwoll and the German fashion academy.

With the strategic platform “rethink fashion”, we found the perfect stage to reach out to the target audience: the runway. A world’s first for a detergent brand. For Perwoll, it was simply the most efficient way how to convey the message: it doesn’t always have to be new.

We wanted to locate Perwoll in current culture as well as spread our message among a fashion-loving target audience – mostly female between the ages of 14 and 49, that is becoming increasingly conscious of their consumption of fashion, as 75% feel it is extremely or very important to make environmentally friendly choices when it comes to fashion. As they are increasingly turning away from classical media, a new approach to bring our message across had to be found. As Instagram is THE credible social platform regarding fashion and lifestyle, we recruited Influencers with a focus on sustainable fashion, while at the same time with a large and, more importantly, also active following. The influencers were not merely spreading our message but were actively involved before, in and during our campaign.

Our influencers started teasing their followers about #RTF, an up-and-coming fashion brand, in the beginning of January 2021. The first collection drop: January 23, 2021 at the About You Fashion Week in Berlin. The runway soon turned into a rally, and our big secret was revealed: #RTF is not a new fashion brand, and our “new collection” is not new at all but made of second-hand clothes - upcycled and upgraded. And #RTF stands for Rethink Fashion. An initiative by Perwoll. Our influencers, they literally walked the talk and spread the words: Rethink Fashion, it doesn’t always have to be new. In the aftermath, the Influencers kept up the conversation regarding sustainability in fashion through the end of February 2021.

18 million impressions

77,9% buying intention after contact with the campaign

98,2% positive interactions with our posts/influencer posts

+115% in followers on our Instagram channel