Pola Fendel & Thekla Wilkening: Kleiderei

In 2014, two friends from Germany, Pola Fendel and Thekla Wilkening, decided they were done watching people buy more and more clothes they didn’t need. They founded Kleiderei, a clothing rental service born in Hamburg, to offer a real, guilt-free alternative to fast fashion. They didn’t want to create another fashion brand. They wanted to change the way we consume clothes from the ground level. The idea came from a simple and powerful realization that most people don’t need more clothes; they just want variety without waste, guilt, or clutter.

Making Borrowing the Norm

Kleiderei started as a fashion library, where borrowing clothes is as normal as renting a bike or checking out a book. Their vision was to make everyday fashion slower, fairer, and lighter on the planet.

Rather than pushing people to constantly buy, Pola and Thekla built a system based on the question - why buy more when you can share better?

Their model focuses on the joy of discovering pieces that feel fresh without feeding the loop of overconsumption. The joy of dressing up without having to buy something you will only wear once.

(Image credit: Kleiderei by Pola & Thekla)

Here is how Kleiderei’s rental system functions:

- You sign up for a monthly fee
- Borrow up to four items at a time
- Swap individual pieces or all four whenever your needs change
- Visit the physical store as often as you like

You are always rotating new outfits into your wardrobe without actually increasing your clothing footprint.

The Kleiderei Collection

Donations and Secondhand Contributions

Many of Kleiderei’s clothes come from individuals and organizations that donate gently used items. These are sorted, cleaned, and added to the rotating collection.

Collaborations with Ethical Designers

They partner with local, independent designers and sustainable brands. These partnerships ensure their racks include pieces made under fair working conditions using environmentally conscious methods.

Curated Vintage Pieces

Their vintage section is handpicked. Each item is selected for its style and lasting quality, something fast fashion rarely offers.

(Image credit: Kleiderei by Pola & Thekla)

Clothes That Already Had a Life Before You

Every item in their collection has already been worn, loved, and lived in by someone else at a different time. Now, it gets to do that all over again with you.

They describe it as:
"New items in store that have previously brightened another member’s day or event."

Kleiderei offers rental convenience with a deeper reminder of how much goes into a single piece of clothing. By renting, you give each piece a second, third, or even fourth life, respecting the massive amount of resources, time, and labour that went into making it.

One cotton T-shirt, for example, takes up to 11 kilograms of CO₂ emissions during its production. So if three T-shirts are rented instead of bought, it cuts more than two-thirds of the CO₂ emissions. That is just the environmental part.

They also highlight the invisible human cost - underpaid garment workers, long production hours, and global supply chains that prioritize speed and profit over safety or fairness.

Their work supports the "Who Made My Clothes" movement and amplifies the reality that each item carries more than a price tag, the story of how it was made and by whom.

Pola and Thekla wanted to slow down fashion and created what they call a "large, shared wardrobe accessible to everyone." One that is not driven by the pressure to keep up but by the freedom to choose more thoughtfully.

They believe fashion should never be a privilege. Style should be expressive, experimental, and inclusive. A business model rooted in reuse, fairness, and shared joy.