Birmingham startup seeks to support sustainable fashion and small businesses

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Birmingham resident and entrepreneur Milagros “Mila” de Souza has set out to change the way we consume fashion.

In 2022, the 23-year-old launched the clothing librarya clothing rental subscription service that uses second-hand clothing purchased from local vendors.

De Souza is part of the Birmingham division of Venture across America — a two-year fellowship program that promotes entrepreneurship through a network of investors and industry experts.

After graduating from Duke University in 2021 with a degree focused on sustainable fashion, de Souza saw an opportunity to combine her passion for business and helping the environment.

“When I was in college, I created my own specialty and studied the effects of sustainable fashion on society. Through this course of study, I explored accessibility issues within the sustainable fashion industry,” said de Souza. “Sustainable fashion is the best choice for the environment, creators, and sometimes even your wallet, but it’s not always first choice.”

According The United Nationsbuying fewer clothes, buying second hand and creating new clothes from old helps save water and reduces pollution from production and waste from industry.

“It takes like 7,500 liters of water to make a single pair of jeans — from the production of the cotton to the delivery of the final product to the store,” a UN report states “Eighty-five percent of textiles end up in landfills or are incinerated, although most of these materials could be reused. Every second, the equivalent of a garbage truck full of textiles is discarded or burned.

As you seek to be part of the solution to fast fashion Through his new company, de Souza says he also wants to help small businesses in the same process.

“Instead of starting firsthand and becoming secondhand through the rental process, we partner with local secondhand resellers, thrift stores and consignment shops to source our items,” de Souza said, adding that has confirmed the partnership with Birmingham D’Trespa consignment and vintage boutique and Quake plus size resale.

“With The Clothing Library, we hope to support [our vendors] with passive income so they can grow their businesses the way they need to,” de Souza said. “We hope to empower people to build a business that works for them without being constrained by the market or finances.”