Sustainable fashion
The Street Store creates a space for people in need to choose the clothes they want. It restores dignity through the transformative power of fashion, while keeping clothes out of landfills and fostering mindfulness around the excesses of fast fashion.
Purpose
What started as a good idea in Cape Town in 2014 to create a space for homeless people to choose clothes with dignity, The Street Store has grown into an action driver in addressing fast-fashion, waste, promoting circular economies and fostering a culture of mindful giving and sustainable fashion.
vision
The Street Store creates spaces, both physical and digital, that restore dignity through clothing. Giving clothes a second life, for those who need a better life, The Street Store believes in the transformative power of fashion.
Fast Fashion fills landfills.
Yet people still go without.
Fast Fashion contributes to 20% of carbon emissions. Every discarded garment does more than pollute the earth in landfills, it contributes to the unsustainable excess. At the same time, millions are in need, with no access to clothing essentials. The Street Store redirects good, preloved clothes to those in need in a dignified way, while promoting a circular economy and a culture of sustainable fashion.
our history
The Street Store demonstrates the transformative power of a great idea. From an innovative way of empowering the homeless to choose their clothes with dignity to a global platform encouraging mindful giving and sustainable fashion, our story is one powered by purpose.
2014
The Street Store is born
M&C Saatchi Abel founded the Street Store in 2014, just four years after the agency was co-founded by internationally respected advertising leader Mike Abel. Rather than doing just another charity handout, the concept was built on homeless people choosing their own clothes with dignity.
2023
1000th Street Store
This year, on Human Rights Day, The Street Store saw its 1000th iteration at the Haven Night Shelter in Cape Town and the Salvation Army in Johannesburg. The 1000th store was testament to what happens when a great idea is sustained. The open-source nature of The Street Store meant it could grow exponentially.
2024
10-year anniversary
Estimated to have benefited more than a million people worldwide, the Street Store was awarded Gold at the Cannes Lions Festival and was recognised as a Best World-Changing Idea in the EMEA region by Fast Company USA. However, perhaps its biggest accolade lies in how it has been sustained and embraced across the globe. By the 10th anniversary, stores had already been held in countries as diverse as Mexico, New Zealand, Ghana, India, Peru, Pakistan, Canada, the US, and many more.
OPEN-SOURCE. COMMUNITY-POWERED. GLOBAL PRESENCE.
Anyone, anywhere, can host a Street Store. We provide the tools, you provide the heart and commitment. The Street Store is completely open source, supported by a free downloadable host kit and a simple pledge to use The Street Store’s name only for good.
OUR RESPONSIBILITY
To equip anyone who wants to make a difference with the tools to drive meaningful impact in their communities and for the planet.
Our Team
Volunteers, designers, hosts and partners worldwide united in a shared passion for sustainable fashion and the transformative power of empowering people to choose their clothing. No charity. Choice.
1,000+ Street Stores.
1 Million+ People Clothed.
From Sao Paulo to Sydney, from Nairobi to New York, The Street Store has been hosted in more than 100 cities worldwide. Each Street Store gives clothes a second life, for those who need a better life.
Join the Movement
Whether you host, donate, or partner - it starts with showing up.
