Inspired with Nika Lawrie

Revolutionizing Sustainable Fashion: Rebecca Mabbett's Journey with "Our Reflections" App

• Nika Lawrie, Rebecca Mabbett • Season 2021 • Episode 18

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Rebecca Mabbett is the creator and CEO of R Reflections. At just 18 years old Rebecca designed and developed a mobile app called R Reflections, which is a virtual fitting and styling room. R Reflections launched on the Apple App Store in September 2020, and since then has been very popular.

In this episode, Rebecca shares her insight into why it was so important to create this app for environmental needs, sustainability, and the changing corporate environment during Covid-19.

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Nika Lawrie:

Welcome to the Inspired with Nika Laurie podcast. Rebecca, welcome to the show. I'm so happy to have you here. Thank you so much for having me. Yeah, so you've had a really interesting last few years. Can you share a little bit about what you've been up to and what brought you to create the Our Reflections app your awesome invention that I love.

Rebecca Mabbett:

Yeah, sure, so I'm 19 years. Well, I'm 20 years old, but when I was 19, I came up with this idea. So I left college at the age of 19 that was about March 2019 and then I went on holiday in August 2019 and I, you know, I ordered loads of clothes for when I went on holiday and I tried all these clothes on and they just didn't suit me. Like half of them. Like you see, the clothes on the model and you're like you know, the clothes look amazing. I'd love to try them on, but actually, like none of them fitted, like they didn't look right on my skin tone, like I'm quite fair skin, but so I have to be careful like what I choose, you know, to see what suits me on whatever. So I just thought, wouldn't it be great if you could virtually try on through, like a website, an app of the, the clothes before you buy them? So obviously I looked around. There wasn't anything like it at the time. So I thought, you know what, I'm going to take this idea and I'm going to go with it. I love that I met with. I just thought, you know what, like I've always wanted to own my own business when I, when I was younger, like I've always dreamt, I'd love to be my own boss. Like you know, that would be quite higher for my achievements that I wanted when I was younger. So I thought you know what? This is my chance. I've been given this idea. Let's just go with it. You know, I've had this idea.

Rebecca Mabbett:

So I went to like an innovation company and they basically I designed the app, we made it into like a prototype and then we obviously coded the real app. So obviously it took about a year, just over a year. So I first met with them in September 2019 and then all the way around to September 2020, sorry, and we launched on the 1st of September. So, yeah, oh, thank you. So yeah, it took a year. But obviously with COVID, I never knew that shops were going to be shut and things like this, because I had the idea before COVID. So it kind of fell right in the middle of COVID. So when we were designing the app, obviously I wasn't able to go and see the software developer or anything like that, because it was all over zoom. So I guess that kind of affected the whole creation a bit. But no, I'm just so glad that we finally got to the stage of launching it. Yeah, and it's on the app store but what I mean?

Nika Lawrie:

what a cool. Like you know, it's serendipitous in the sense of it's an app that you can try on clothes from your home while we're all stuck in our homes, like what a cool coincidence, you know, and not to say that COVID had anything to do with being cool, but you know what a cool thing for for you to have kind of happen in a sense.

Rebecca Mabbett:

I know, like to be too honest, like when I was designing the app, I don't think it fully registered until it hit that day on the 1st of September 2020. I'm like, actually, no, like I have an app on the app store. Like it's crazy. Yeah, the reality like hits in. Then it's like wow, like this is all happening.

Nika Lawrie:

Very, very cool and I love the app because I think we'll talk about a little bit more. But, um, I you know I'm really into being environmentally friendly and trying to protect the earth the best we can and really trying to take care of nature and the app really helps kind of support that in several different ways, especially, um, I know you and I've had a conversation before about like CO2 and and all of the the CO2 that's coming from the transport of clothing that's being bought online or bought and returned, and so your HAP really helps kind of mitigate that a little bit because we can try on the clothes and not have to send them back.

Rebecca Mabbett:

That a little bit because we can try on the clothes and not have to send them back. Yeah, definitely, like you don't realize, like everybody orders online and you just saying, oh yeah, order online, it's easy, it comes to your door. Like don't think anyone actually registers the fact that actually it returns, are affecting our environment and are actually making a massive impact on the environment. Yeah, they say. You know, on average about 25 percent of clothes that are brought online are returned. You know so they've. It's just crazy because they've had to have transportation to get to the customer and then transportation to get back from the customer to the retailer, and it's you know that extra added journey back is costing almost double the co2 emissions because 25 percent of items of clothing are going back yeah you think how many like tons, metric tons of co2 is actually going back into the atmosphere?

Rebecca Mabbett:

that necessarily didn't need to go back into the atmosphere, it's. It's just crazy and I just think, when you're shopping online and I must admit I didn't know anything about it all like you just don't think, do you until, like I, when I was uh designing the app, I was obviously researching it and I was shocked like how much you know because you don't think. You just think I'll just return it, like buy lots of things, just return it like it's free, it's simple, but actually like it all. But it also it doesn't just affect the um environment, sorry, it also affects retailers. Like I didn't realize that. How much you know these returns. Obviously they need to be stored, so they have to have more warehouses, more employees to sort the returns, you know, and it's just crazy to think like how much it has an impact.

Nika Lawrie:

And then you also you did a lot of research just kind of generally around the fashion industry as you're building the app and I know I mean I'm definitely not a fashion industry expert but I have, you know, some idea of the pretty major environmental effect that they've had on the planet. I think they're actually the second largest polluter in the world. Can you tell me a little bit about some of the things that you've learned that the industry is doing that's maybe negatively affecting the planet? Sure?

Rebecca Mabbett:

yeah, of course, like the, the chemicals that they use, for example, like they're just harmful. You don't actually realize that most of these clothes that you order online because there's so many returns, especially like in the peak seasons Christmas, summer, and the trends when they turn over and things like that you don't realize that retailers can't cope with all these returns. And when they can't cope with them, by the time they actually process the returns, that item is either out of season, you know, out of trend and things like that, because the fashion industry is so fast moving that actually the retailers can't process them enough to get them back resold at full price. So these returns are either being, you know, cut, reduced in price, put into sales, or they're just put into landfill because it's just cheaper than resending them out and then getting them back again.

Rebecca Mabbett:

And obviously landfill, as we all know like it's so harmful, you know the toxic chemicals can get into the soil and the groundwater, and then then you've got the stuff of like it's. It's just so bad because the clothes also take some items of clothing and I didn't really realize this until I'd actually researched it. Some items of clothing can take over 200 years to decompose. Yeah, yeah, and if we're putting 25 percent of return clothing back to retailers, you just think how much landfill space we're using yeah, and it's literally like this crazy process where you know they, they, the fashion industry will.

Nika Lawrie:

You know they're extreme users of water, and so the there's water waste and contamination. And then there's the chemicals that go into it, and then there's the pesticides that went on the plants to grow the cotton. Sometimes it's in it or you know other materials, and so it's like this crazy, you know detrimental process just to make the item, and then the item you know is shipped all over the world. It's usually shipped two or three times before it reaches the consumer, and then the consumer doesn't want it and ships it back, and then the retailer can't use it and then it just ends up in the landfill. We are killing the planet literally to just throw things away and hurt the planet even more like it's.

Rebecca Mabbett:

It's a bizarre process yeah, and you know what. It's just so crazy because you don't think that all these chemicals are being used, you know, for dyeing, for tie-dyeing, you know bleaching and all of these like different processes to make our clothes. They are literally just being released into the atmosphere. Yeah, you know, into our skins when we wear them. Like you know, the clothing can um get the toxic chemicals sorry, can go into our body when we're wearing them. They can affect allergies, you know. They can cause skin irritation, like if you have a jumper, for example. Sometimes you find them a bit itchy or whatever around the neck. It's just crazy and I don't think people realize that these chemicals are just so harmful to us, or also to the environment.

Nika Lawrie:

Yeah, I mean, I say it all the time that people don't realize that. You know, I know it's a little bit better in the UK they're a little bit better regulated there but in the US there's about 80,000 chemicals known to man, and in the USs and the 1930s like literally before computers and science, and like real regulations were put into place and so, you know, there's all these chemicals that are in our clothes, like, um, different things used for the dyes, uh, fragrances, like weird smells and stuff on the clothes. Yeah, it's just so weird. Yeah, there's fire retardant, all kinds of crazy things they put in our clothes.

Rebecca Mabbett:

yeah, and I read somewhere, though, that it takes like 200 tons of water to produce one time one ton of dyed fabric. Yes, yeah, how much water are we wasting here? Right and just create there's a shortage of water around the world for people. So what are we wasting here?

Nika Lawrie:

right and just create. There's a shortage of water around the world for people, so what are we doing?

Rebecca Mabbett:

yeah, yeah, it's almost like we're focusing on the wrong. The wrong, like materials to use, yeah, but again it's like all this fast fashion. You know they're cheap clothes, they're sold on, worn once or twice, and they put get put in the bin. Like this is how we are impacting the whole. You know, because if we wore clothes and we swapped them with friends or, like we um, sold them on to other people rather than just get rid of them, there wouldn't be as much many clothes being made because we wouldn't need as many clothes.

Nika Lawrie:

Yeah, personally, I made a pretty big shift about two years ago.

Nika Lawrie:

I've become a non-minimalist minimalist in the sense of I still have a lot of stuff, but I'm very deliberate about what I buy and what I'll bring into my home, and I also cleared out the vast majority of the clutter I had in my house, and so I've probably, over the last two years, gotten rid of about two-third of what I owned.

Nika Lawrie:

I mean, it was a massive amount of stuff that I got rid of and I passed it on to charities and friends so that would at least be repurposed or reused. But my point as it relates to fashion is that I'm very deliberate about what I'll buy now, and I only buy high quality items that will last me a long time, and so that I you know, one, I'm not wasting money on throwaway fashion, but two, I have quality items that last a long time just for the sake of not having as much stuff in my house and having more quality stuff, and it really it sounds silly, but it's had a really profound impact on my mental health as well. I feel so much better in my home, and so I think it's something people can definitely consider doing. Looking at.

Rebecca Mabbett:

Yeah, definitely Like you. I also with my clothes and anything. You know, if I don't need them anymore, I'll either. I have two sisters, so I either give them to them and we swap clothes, because I think at this point it's just buying exactly the same clothes you know we swap and share.

Rebecca Mabbett:

And then I've got friends say like if, um, I give them a dress, they give me a dress or you know tops and things like that, and then also pass them down, like and I just I don't understand how people can just get a black bag and put it, put loads of clothes in it and put it in the bin, like I don't get why you wouldn't give it to charity.

Rebecca Mabbett:

Yeah, we've got um this service I don't know if you have it in the US called the air ambulance, and they're like our um air paramedics and they buy helicopters and the clothes that you donate go to, obviously, the people that have been um picked up by the air ambulance. You know they've either been in the sea or you know they've come from hospitals or things. You know you gift it to them so they can use it on their patients, so that it and it's just good to know that your staff's going to a better, you know it's going to a good cause, it's not going to the landfill at least you feel like you're making a difference and, like you say, it does have a positive impact on your mental health because you know, knowing that you've given like a handful of clothes or, you know, items of clothing to charity or to people less fortunate. I think it's great.

Nika Lawrie:

Absolutely. I want to go back real quick to talking about the water waste, because one of the other things that I've found recently and there's more research coming out on it pretty regularly but they're finding that there's microfibers ending up in our oceans and then that is actually contaminating our food supplies. So you know, an example is salmon. Like they wash all these clothing and the microfibers get washed into the sea and then it ends up in the animals we eat and that's affecting us as like it's getting into our bodies. Have you seen any of the research coming out about that? Yeah, definitely. And do you know what? Any of the research coming out about that? Yeah, definitely.

Rebecca Mabbett:

And do you know what?

Rebecca Mabbett:

And reading the research, I was like, wow, like you don't think it's such a lengthy process, but you don't think like, say, like washing like a fleece or something, if you put that in the wash, the little microfibers, little like threads or you know bits coming off of the garment, every time you put that item of clothing in the wash, microfibers are being like, um, washed away into a washing machine and then that obviously gets put into, like the um the, where your local like waste water site, and then obviously that goes into rivers and lakes and ponds and things and then the oceans as well, and these little microfibers are so small that these waste, um, these waste plants can't remove them from the water because they are so small, so that's why they get leaked.

Rebecca Mabbett:

But it was like something like every time you wash a fleece, it um 1.7 grams of microfibers, yeah, and then put into wastewater and you just think like if you wash your fleece, like five times, you know, you think how many microfibers you are putting and that's just let alone like seven billion people on the planet doing it.

Nika Lawrie:

Yeah.

Rebecca Mabbett:

Yeah, exactly, and you just think, like how many times you put your washing machine on a day, or how many times a week, or how many times a month? And that is one item of clothing. You know? Imagine washing, I don't know, like all your clothes to the week, like you just don't think about it and it gets into our oceans and the fish obviously eat it, but not unbeknown to them. Those microfibers are so small that you can't pick them out of water, no matter how many you know processes it goes through. It's very hard to get rid of all of them, so obviously the fish are eating it and then we're consuming the fish, so it gets into our bodies as well. It's just so harmful to the environment but also ourselves yeah, it's such a crazy.

Nika Lawrie:

I mean it. It really makes you understand that everything is connected, like there's a cycle for everything that we're doing and so if we're not conscious and not deliberate about you know the things that we do in our daily activity, how much ripple effect good or bad that has on our environment and the planet and the animals that we live around, and so on.

Rebecca Mabbett:

Yeah, it's just crazy and I don't think until you actually, like you know, research it and actually look into, I don't think you'll ever know, like the true depth of what ordering clothes online or going in store and ordering clothes has on the environment and has on you know the animals that we have in the sea, but also it's not just the fish, it's like any animal that drinks off a pond or a lake, you know, or the ocean, like it birds, for example. You know anything that drinks out of a lake as well, like it's not just affecting our fish, but it's affecting pretty much every animal that drinks from a natural source.

Nika Lawrie:

That's true, yeah. Yeah, I hadn't even thought about it that way.

Rebecca Mabbett:

But yeah, you're absolutely correct it just makes you think like, like, oh, like you know, I think you know, yeah, it's just crazy.

Nika Lawrie:

Yeah, so so, other than using our reflections which I think is a phenomenal concept and a phenomenal app just to help people, you know, limit the amount of waste that we have with all this fashion and, you know, really try to buy quality clothes that we're going to love, that we, you know, we still want to wear nice clothes and look good and all, and I think that's an important thing. But using the app is such a great thing. What are some other things that kind of the average day person might be able to do to kind of help mitigate some of that?

Rebecca Mabbett:

Literally just don't order loads of items of clothing, like I'm not sitting here and saying you know you can't return things. You know because obviously some things that you buy you are going to have to return, you know, and some things aren't going to be the true size. You know, and that's the other problem with fast fashion, because you go into shops that sell cheap clothing. They obviously pay their workers cheap, for example, and their seam allowances can differ so much. Obviously if you buy something cheap, the seam allowance may be bigger or maybe smaller, making the item of clothing bigger or smaller so it may not fit you or whatever. I'm not saying like return, I'm not saying you can't return anything, but we all just need to minimize it. You know, with the app you can try clothes on to see if you're like it's, if it suits you and things like that. But also, or just go into a shop. You know when shops are.

Rebecca Mabbett:

In the UK, all of our shops are shut at the moment, so obviously everybody is ordering online. I don't know what it's like in the UK. All of our shops are shut at the moment, so obviously everybody is ordering online. I don't know what it's like in the US yeah, it depends on the state.

Nika Lawrie:

Some places are open, some places are still pretty shut down, but yeah yeah.

Rebecca Mabbett:

So literally, I would just say just try and think of the environment and research the environment and think, you know, when you're ordering clothes. Do I actually need this? Will I wear it enough, you know, and is it environmentally friendly? Like there's so many more sustainable brands out there now and sustainable fashion is going to be the way to shop, hopefully in the future, to try and protect our environment absolutely so the app's really taken off in 2020 and 2021.

Nika Lawrie:

Can you talk a little bit about what your plan is as you go forward, growing the business?

Rebecca Mabbett:

Yeah, sure, so obviously in Europe we've been in and out of lockdowns and things. So, like I said before, like shops are shut, more customers are shopping online, so obviously our returns in the UK things like I said before, like shops are shut, more customers are shopping online, so obviously our returns in the UK have increased a lot. And that is the whole concept of the app. The app is there to help reduce returns, co2 emissions and just trying to help the environment as much as we can.

Rebecca Mabbett:

Um, obviously most people like anywhere, like everybody's scared of covid, so go into a shop. You're always going to have in the back of your mind like am I going to get coronavirus from going to a shop? There's a lot more people I think especially the older people in the uk are like oh, should we be going out, should we not? So it's just a bit hard and obviously people would rather shop online. It's easier, you've got less contact with people. So I think Covid has played a massive part in obviously, online shopping. Yeah, um, but obviously I think on the plus side, the pandemic has taught everyone about the environment and actually you know when I think it was back March, it was late March, you know when we were out in the garden or whatever, we hardly saw any planes.

Rebecca Mabbett:

You know, you felt almost that the pollution levels was were lowering yeah, the air felt a lot cleaner and I just think that made people realize actually we don't need to be polluted, we don't need to be letting off all these extra co2 emissions, because, at the end of the day, I think the pandemic shocked everyone and I think it did make people realize more about the environment and how much effect we as humans cause for the environment absolutely.

Nika Lawrie:

Yeah, I, I completely agree. I remember, um, they were showing the canals in Venice and how clear the water was, and just the realization of everything that we are doing to the planet. Even if it's unintentionally, it's a massive effect and we need to do our best to mitigate that as quickly as possible.

Rebecca Mabbett:

Yeah, definitely. And, like you said about Venice, like the first time they'd seen fish in those canals, obviously at the start of their lockdown, and it's just crazy like how, how much like everything almost coming to a halt has changed. You know, environmental things is you know the seas were becoming clearer, like the skies were definitely becoming clearer from pollution, because not obviously not a lot of people flying and things like that. So I think, and I think that's what made people think, ah, like this is what we can do if we think about the environment, if everybody thought about the environment when they were shopping not just shopping, though, like whatever taking a car journey, you know, can you walk, can you cycle. I just think the Pandemic has really helped open everyone's eyes up.

Nika Lawrie:

I absolutely agree, definitely. Where can people find the Our Reflections app and where can they connect with you online?

Rebecca Mabbett:

Yeah, definitely so. All my social medias are. It's just at Our Reflections LTD. So it's nice and simple. Everything is at Our Reflections LTD. And then the letter R, r and a D flexed. Yeah, sorry, yeah, yeah, r R reflections, l, t, d. Sorry about that, no worries. And then if you type in R space reflections on the Affleck store, you'll find it there as well. Perfect.

Nika Lawrie:

So I have one last question for you, but before I get to that, I just want to recognize you for the work that you're doing, because I think it is so, so important. I think you know we've talked about so many things throughout this episode and just the detrimental effect that fashion is having on the planet, which people really aren't aware of. And I know fashion's not going to go anywhere. You know people love to get dressed and wear different clothes and have their own style. I know it's not going anywhere and I'm not saying it should, but I think you know if we can be smarter about how we shop and more um conscious about how we shop, it can make a huge impact of overall, and so I love what you're doing and I just want to recognize you for that oh, thank you.

Rebecca Mabbett:

No, definitely like and I mean that I'm not saying like you can't return anything, or you know. All I ask is that you think about what you're buying and then just think you know how you can do your bit. If everybody did like a tiny little bit to help save the planet, we would literally make so much more of a difference.

Nika Lawrie:

Yeah, yeah, exactly, definitely so my. My last question for you, rebecca, is something I ask all of my guests, but I love the different answers I receive, so I'm going to ask you as well what advice do you have for someone who wants to make change, either for themselves, in their community or around the world? All?

Rebecca Mabbett:

I would say is just go for it. Like if you have an idea or if you have something that you think could make a difference, I'd go for it. You know, because if you don't go for it, you're not going to make that difference. And if you've got a difference or a change that you want to make, chances are that some other people want to as well, so you can come together and, to be honest, just go for it. That was my one bit of advice. Don't let anything hold you back and just, yeah, just go as far as you can with it.

Nika Lawrie:

I love that. Yeah, just the inspiration of that. I think people get so scared and so worried, but sometimes you just just jump.

Rebecca Mabbett:

Yeah, like I do believe that nothing in life is worth having if it's easy. So obviously it's not going to be. It's not going to be easy. You're not just going to be able to roll your change out within three months, for example. It's going to take time and you've got to stick at it to be able to make it successful. But when you do, it will be worth it.

Nika Lawrie:

Absolutely. I love that. Well, thank you, Rebecca, so much for your time and your knowledge and sharing your app with us. I will link to everything in the show notes just to make it as easy as possible, but thank you so so much.

Rebecca Mabbett:

No, thank you for having me. It's been great talking to you.

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