Wearable Collections
Wearable Collections operates a multi-channel textile recycling collection network across the NYC metro area, diverting over 2 million pounds of clothing and textiles annually from landfills through building bins, GrowNYC Greenmarket booths, community drives, home pickups, and corporate End-of-Use services for apparel brands.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2004
- HeadquartersBrooklyn, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingServices
What Wearable Collections does
Wearable Collections is a for-profit textile recycling and collection service founded in 2004 and headquartered in Brooklyn, NY. The company diverts used clothing, shoes, and home textiles from landfills through a multi-channel physical collection network: in-building bins at 200+ residential and commercial properties across NYC, weekly booths at 31 GrowNYC Greenmarket locations, school and community clothing drives, a $20 contactless home pickup service, and a mail-in program. Since founding, the company reports collecting more than 20 million pounds of textiles and currently diverts over 2 million pounds annually, with 96% of collected material finding a second life as secondhand clothing, wiping rags, or fiber for insulation and carpet padding.
The company's underlying technology is a collection-and-logistics platform rather than a software or hardware product: front-end drop-off infrastructure is operated directly, while grading, sorting, and downstream redistribution are handled by third-party sorting facilities that pay Wearable Collections on a per-pound basis. Service variants are tiered by collection method and customer (steel bins for 200+ unit buildings, plastic bins for 100+ units, sneaker drop boxes, home pickups, drives, and mail-in). In 2019 the company launched an End-of-Use service line targeting apparel and fashion brands, providing shredding of proprietary items, reverse logistics for overstock and returns, retail take-back program management, in-store collection infrastructure, and consulting.
The revenue model is a hybrid of commodity per-pound sale of collected textiles to sorters (which subsidizes free front-end collection services), a $20 unit price on home pickups, per-pound fees on corporate shredding, and project-based fees on End-of-Use brand engagements. The customer base spans four horizontal segments: NYC residential buildings (primary), schools and educational institutions, apparel brands and fashion companies, and individual residents served through Greenmarkets. Wearable Collections is bootstrapped, founded on $50,000 of co-founder capital with no institutional investment, and operates with 11–50 employees. The company was originally established as a fundraising initiative for the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis and has historically donated a portion of proceeds to charitable partners.
Wearable Collections firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Wearable Collections
- Legal name
- Wearable Collections
- Website
- https://wearablecollections.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2004
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Wearable Collections operates a multi-channel textile recycling collection network across the NYC metro area, diverting over 2 million pounds of clothing and textiles annually from landfills through building bins, GrowNYC Greenmarket booths, community drives, home pickups, and corporate End-of-Use services for apparel brands.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Wearable Collections industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Textile Recycling Services
- akta.pro primary industry
- Post-Consumer Textile Collection & Sorting (Take-Back/Charity/Reverse Logistics) (IMAOAMAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Textile & Apparel Recycling and Sorting (Non-E-waste) (BPALADAL), Donation, Resale & Textile Recycling Coordination (HSAFABAI)
Keywords
Where Wearable Collections is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Brooklyn
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Wearable Collections business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Sale of collected textiles: Collected clothing and shoes are sold to sorting facilities at market rates. The sorting facility pays Wearable Collections a per-pound rate for the collected, unopened bags. Sorters grade and export reusable items to emerging markets (Africa, South America, Central America) and process damaged items as rags or fiber. The reuse value subsidizes recycling operations. For materials that must be 100% recycled (proprietary items requiring shredding), a small per-pound fee is charged.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Contactless Home Pick-Up — $20 per pickup |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Corporate apparel shredding — per-pound fee |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels8 records
Wearable Collections product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Wearable Collections provides textile and clothing collection services across the New York City metro area, diverting used clothing, shoes, and textiles from landfills through in-building bins, GrowNYC Greenmarket booths, school/organization drives, home pickups, mail-in, and corporate end-of-use programs. Collected materials are aggregated and sold to third-party sorting facilities that grade and redistribute items to emerging markets or process them as rags and fiber. The company has collected more than 20 million pounds of textiles since 2004.
Product overview
Wearable Collections operates a multi-channel textile recycling platform offering five interconnected collection programs: (1) Buildings Collection Program providing bins for residential/commercial buildings with weekly service, (2) Greenmarket Collections at 13 GrowNYC weekly markets, (3) Drives Program for school and organizational clothing drives, (4) Home Pick Ups including contactless door-to-door service, and (5) End-of-Use Services providing custom sustainable solutions for apparel brands including shredding, distribution, and retail take-back programs. The company also offers a Mail-In service. Together these programs divert over 2 million pounds of textiles annually from landfills, with bins available in steel, plastic, and sneaker drop box formats sized for different building capacities. The company was founded in 2004 and serves the NYC metro area.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Buildings Collection Program Free textile collection bin placement (steel, plastic, or sneaker drop boxes) at residential and commercial buildings across NYC, with weekly or bi-weekly pickups. Buildings with 200+ units receive steel bins; 100+ unit buildings receive plastic bins. Over 200 buildings are served across the five boroughs.
- Greenmarket Collections Weekly drop-off collection of clothing, shoes, and home linens at 31 GrowNYC Greenmarket locations across Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx, operated in partnership with GrowNYC. Free to individual donors.
- Drives Program Partnership program for schools, offices, community centers, places of worship, and other organizations to host clothing drives. Wearable Collections provides flyers, collection bins, and pickup logistics, and donates a portion of proceeds per pound to a charity chosen by the host.
- Home Pick Ups Door-to-door collection service for unwanted clothing, shoes, and textiles from homes, businesses, or community spaces in the NYC metro area, scheduled on Fridays with a 4-hour window. Priced at $20 per pickup.
- End-of-Use Services Custom sustainable textile waste solutions for apparel and fashion brands, including apparel shredding for proprietary items, distribution of excess inventory to overseas secondhand markets with branding removed, retail take-back program management, in-store collection infrastructure, and consulting. Available Northeast-wide for brands meeting minimum load amounts.
- Mail-In Service Mail-in collection service allowing customers to send unwanted clothing and textiles by mail for recycling through the takeback.wearablecollections.com portal.
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 20 million lbs of clothing, shoes, and textiles collected since 2004
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use Wearable Collections
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Wearable Collections technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Wearable Collections partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Ten partnerships are on record, tiered minor, core and foundational.
- Columbia University and Stony Brook UniversityminorPartnership established in 2010 with Columbia University and Stony Brook University on Long Island. Regular textile waste collection, particularly during move-out periods. Students and university communities benefit from convenient disposal while raising funds through the collection program.
- GrowNYCcorePartnership established in 2009 with GrowNYC, New York City's largest environmental organization. Wearable Collections powers textile and clothing collections at the GrowNYC Greenmarket network, which has grown from 2 locations to 31 weekly locations across Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. This partnership provides consistent, high-traffic collection sites in NYC communities and is a cornerstone of the company's public-facing collection infrastructure.
- Miami Project to Cure ParalysisfoundationalOne of the founding causes of Wearable Collections. One of the co-founders (Ethan Ruby) was left paralyzed in 2000 and became president of the NYC chapter of the Miami Project. The company was originally founded as a fundraising tool for this spinal cord injury research organization. A portion of proceeds from textile collections historically supported this cause.
- NYC Department of Education / Office of SustainabilityminorPartnership began in 2015 with the NYC DOE's Department of Sustainability to place collection bins and host textile drives in public schools throughout the city. This partnership supports environmental education and provides schools with a fundraising vehicle through textile collection.
- Movers Not ShakersminorPartnership with a moving company that integrates textile collection into the moving process. Customers' discarded clothing, textiles, and shoes are placed in reusable bins and delivered to Wearable Collections via the moving company's biodiesel fleet. Proceeds from collected textiles are donated to a charity chosen by Movers Not Shakers.
- New York Road Runners (NYC Marathon)minorPartnership with New York Road Runners to clean up the starting line of the NYC Marathon, diverting over 30,000 lbs of clothing and shoes. High-visibility event partnership demonstrating large-scale collection capabilities.
- Broadway Green AllianceminorPartnership with the Broadway Green Alliance for Earth Day events, including collection drives held in Times Square. Combines the Broadway community's sustainability initiatives with Wearable Collections' textile collection infrastructure.
- Global Fashion ExchangeminorPartnership with Global Fashion Exchange (GFX) to raise awareness and divert 1 million pounds of fashion waste at GFX swap and collection sites in New York State. Joint environmental campaign supporting circular fashion.
- Habitat for HumanityminorAmong the charity partners that receive a portion of proceeds from Wearable Collections' textile collections. Part of the company's broader charitable giving model that includes national organizations and local community groups.
- City HarvestminorAmong the charity partners receiving a portion of proceeds from textile collections. City Harvest is a New York City food rescue organization.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Wearable Collections competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Bank & Vogue Group: Bank & Vogue is a global textile sorting and redistribution company that purchases post-consumer clothing for grading and resale to emerging markets. Operates on the same downstream economics that drive Wearable Collections' per-pound resale revenue.
- I:CO (Soex Group): I:CO provides global take-back and collection solutions for apparel brands and retailers, including in-store collection and recycling logistics. Directly comparable to Wearable Collections' End-of-Use corporate service, with much broader international scale.
- USAgain: USAgain places clothing collection bins at schools, businesses, and public spaces across multiple U.S. states, reselling collected textiles to recyclers and reuse markets. Same collection-for-resale model as Wearable Collections, with a broader but less dense geographic footprint.
- Martex Fiber: Martex Fiber is a Southeast U.S.-based textile recycler with collection and processing operations, selling graded material to reuse and recycling end markets. A direct peer in the post-consumer textile collection and sorting value chain.
- Helpsy: Helpsy operates clothing and textile collection bins for residential buildings, schools, and municipalities across the U.S. and sells collected material to sorters — a near-identical operating model to Wearable Collections, making it the closest direct peer.
- The Renewal Workshop: The Renewal Workshop processes returned, damaged, and overstock apparel for fashion brands — effectively the same enterprise service as Wearable Collections' End-of-Use offering, focused on a Western U.S. customer base.
Broad incumbents
- Eileen Fisher (Renew): Eileen Fisher Renew is the brand's take-back and resale program for previously-worn Eileen Fisher garments. Comparable to a captive-brand version of Wearable Collections' End-of-Use model.
- Patagonia (Worn Wear): Patagonia's Worn Wear program is a brand-owned take-back, repair, and resale operation that competes for the same apparel-brand circularity mandates as Wearable Collections' End-of-Use service, but with captive brand supply.
- ThredUp: ThredUp is a large online resale platform that processes donated and consigned clothing at scale. While more retail/resale-focused than Wearable Collections, it is a broad incumbent in the circular-textile space and competes for downstream reuse economics.
Emerging players
- For Days: For Days operates a circular fashion take-back program (accepting any brand's clothing) with closed-loop recycling into new garments. An emerging peer overlapping with Wearable Collections' take-back and End-of-Use capabilities.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Wearable Collections social profiles
Digital presenceWearable Collections financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Wearable Collections leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Wearable Collections funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Wearable Collections M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Wearable Collections
What does Wearable Collections do?
Wearable Collections provides textile and clothing collection services across the New York City metro area, diverting used clothing, shoes, and textiles from landfills through in-building bins, GrowNYC Greenmarket booths, school/organization drives, home pickups, mail-in, and corporate end-of-use programs. Collected materials are aggregated and sold to third-party sorting facilities that grade and redistribute items to emerging markets or process them as rags and fiber. The company has collected more than 20 million pounds of textiles since 2004.
Is Wearable Collections a public or private company?
Wearable Collections is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Wearable Collections founded?
Wearable Collections was founded in 2004. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Wearable Collections based?
Wearable Collections is headquartered in Brooklyn, United States, in the North America region.
How does Wearable Collections make money?
One revenue line is on record: sale of collected textiles.
Who are Wearable Collections's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Bank & Vogue Group, I:CO (Soex Group), USAgain, Martex Fiber, Helpsy and The Renewal Workshop. Broad incumbents are Eileen Fisher (Renew), Patagonia (Worn Wear) and ThredUp. For Days is listed as an emerging player.
Does Wearable Collections have an API?
No public API is recorded for Wearable Collections.
What industry is Wearable Collections in?
Wearable Collections's product category is Textile Recycling Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is IMAOAMAA, Post-Consumer Textile Collection & Sorting (Take-Back/Charity/Reverse Logistics), with a secondary code of BPALADAL, Textile & Apparel Recycling and Sorting (Non-E-waste).