Meet Johanna Moonan of OpenClosit
Johanna Moonan is the founder of OpenClosit, the very first destination to rent and list designer fashion in Los Angeles.
OpenClosit’s Pop-Up is located at 1528 Montana Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90403 and is open through December 2022.
In 2017, as a passionate advertising research strategist representing Fortune 500 companies, Moonan identified a gap in the circular economy and a need to extend the life cycle of luxury garments. In October 2019 she launched the sustainable technology platform, OpenClosit, coined the ‘Airbnb for your wardrobe’.
Johanna herself has practiced buying no new clothes for the past 3 years after witnessing firsthand the harm the fashion industry was inflicting on the environment whilst working abroad.
She attributes this experience to a shift in her consumption patterns – a shift that she feels is shared with a lot of like-minded individuals;
“I’ve seen firsthand the detrimental impact the fashion industry can have on the environment and its workers while living overseas in Indonesia...fashion is one of the most polluting industries in the world and it’s all about creativity. It’s beautiful and artful but propped up by a lot of dirt behind the scenes.”
“I’ve seen firsthand the detrimental impact the fashion industry can have on the environment and its workers while living overseas in Indonesia. a major textile and fashion production market. I witnessed large piles of scrap textiles being burned behind clothing factories. The open burning of trash is something I saw daily - people want to get rid of the unwanted waste for free and avoid paying for the garbage trucks there. This may seem unorthodox to us in America, but a lot of designers deal with their excess in similar ways. They throw away their past season’s work before reducing the perceived value of their brand name. And these synthetic textiles live long past us, decomposing in landfills. Fashion is one of the most polluting industries in the world and it’s all about creativity. It’s beautiful and artful but propped up by a lot of dirt behind the scenes.”
OpenClosit is at the forefront of sustainability and was created to provide fashion garments sitting unused in women’s wardrobes a new rental marketplace that will make customers a lot more money over time compared with current consignment marketplaces like the Real Real.
More importantly, Moonan believes that OpenClosit will immediately reduce the environmental impact of the fashion industry.
“OpenClosit was created to fill the need for that knockout one-time wear outfit for women but it was also to extend the life cycle of a high-fashion piece that otherwise, the owner would only wear once.”
“As a side result, I hope that it will minimize consumers' reliance on fast fashion brands that have little to no concern for the environment or the people behind the scenes and in the factories.”
In 2019, Moonan identified Los Angeles as the optimal market to launch the company. Since then, OpenClosit’s community has grown, warranting a space for users to try on and drop off their rentals and listings.
With the city pioneering environmental and sustainable trends, Johanna believes the diverse mix of creative industries will be advantageous for the business, Moonan said,“ Los Angeles is fun, it dresses up, it takes risks, it stays up late. Plus the city is liberal, open to new ideas, and very environmentally minded. Additionally, women in Los Angeles are early adopters of technology, OpenClosit gives them the ability to have their own side hustle out of their closets and make a lot more money over time than consigning.”
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