Next up for International Women’s Day 2024, we had the absolute pleasure of interviewing Bernadette Oliver, co-founder of Australia’s largest designer fashion rental marketplace, The Volte. Discover how Bernadette’s mission to make designer fashion more accessible supports female entrepreneurs worldwide and helps diminish fast fashion.
What is The Volte and can you share with us the inspiration behind starting it?
The Volte is the largest designer fashion rental marketplace globally. The Volte connects borrowers and lenders all over Australia, allowing users to earn from their wardrobes and rent items that they would only wear once. I was inspired to start The Volte with the rise of the sharing economy including Uber and Airbnb and realised that women could earn substantial income from their wardrobes while also making it easier for women to consume fashion sustainably.
The fashion industry has often been criticised for perpetuating certain beauty standards. How does The Volte challenge these standards and contribute to empowering women to express their individuality and confidence?
The Volte allows all women to share their designer fashion. This means that our inventory caters to all Australian women as our lenders are diverse in age, size and style choices. Some women love renting outfits that they would not normally purchase such as sequinned jumpsuits or bright pink feathered ball gowns as renting allows them to experiment with their style. I’m proud that The Volte’s model allows our community to continue to love fashion and express their identities through fashion without feeling guilty that they are contributing to fashion’s waste problem.
The Volte stocks sizes 4-22 making it one of the most inclusive fashion hire brands on the market
Women often face unique challenges in entrepreneurship. What obstacles did you encounter while establishing The Volte, and how did you overcome them to pave the way for other aspiring female entrepreneurs?
In the early days, we pitched to many angel groups and at this time the majority of the angels in some of these groups were men over the age of 50. This meant that initially, it was hard for them to grasp the opportunity and viewed The Volte as a fun way to share clothes rather than a model that could change how women consume fashion, and now how fashion designers produce fashion. We learnt to lead with the strong traction we had achieved so we could show the momentum behind the circular fashion economy.
Bernadette with the other co-founders of The Volte
Women’s empowerment is closely tied to mentorship and support networks. Have you experienced the impact of mentorship in your own journey, and do you actively seek to mentor other women in the business world?
We were lucky to always have amazing early investors who mentored us and assisted us as we began raising capital and The Volte grew. Additionally, both the Betterlabs and eBay Ventures team have been immensely generous in supporting us as we continue our journey. I also reached out to Mike Rosenbaum (Spacer / Parkhound) on LinkedIn after realising he had also recently launched a sharing economy start-up and this relationship has been a huge reason behind our success. Through Mike, we were able to connect with other sharing economy start-up founders including Alexis from Mad Paws and Tim Fung from Camplify and share learnings. I have really enjoyed mentoring female start-up founders through the Plus Eight Programme and through the Springboard community.
As a successful entrepreneur, how do you balance the demands of work and personal life? What advice do you have for women striving to find that balance in their own professional journeys?
I struggle with balance like everyone. I’m beginning to be better at implementing boundaries and self-care because unlike when we first launched, I have begun to understand that a start-up is more of a marathon than a sprint. My main advice would be kind to yourself. Previously when I was snowed under at work, I’d feel terrible guilt that I was an absent parent and likewise when I’d have a child home sick, I’d worry that I wasn’t as efficient as I needed to be. I’ve learnt that you will rarely feel balanced and it’s important to get the right support team at home and at work so you can navigate the high-pressure time periods.
The Volte has a strong emphasis on sustainability. How can conscious consumer choices, such as renting fashion items, empower women to make environmentally friendly decisions while still enjoying the latest trends?
The Volte allows women to have fun with fashion without feeling guilty about overconsumption, which is one of the largest issues facing the fashion industry. We all love that feeling of newness and wearing an outfit that makes us feel confident. The Volte allows you to have that same experience without being part of the problem. If you fall in love with a beautiful outfit, you can lend it to The Volte and help reduce fashion waste or alternatively rather than purchasing a dress you may only wear once, you can hire it.
International Women’s Day 2024 is all about inspiring inclusion. When we inspire others to understand and value women’s inclusion, we forge a better world. And when women themselves are inspired to be included, there’s a sense of belonging, relevance and empowerment. How do you aim to inspire inclusion both now and in the future?
The Volte is a community of women and a large community of female entrepreneurs. When we launched The Volte, we realised that there was a group of female entrepreneurs launching dress hire businesses without support and were largely outsiders in the fashion industry. The Volte aims to foster this community and help make their businesses a success. The success of The Volte is based on the success of our lenders.
To read more of our International Women’s Day articles, head here.
To learn more about The Volte and to hire their fits, click below.
