When Alon Dukorsky helped his family move from Perth to Melbourne, he didn’t expect to be buried under a mountain of clothes. Yet, box after box revealed a common household truth: wardrobes stuffed with quality clothing that no one wore anymore, but no one quite knew what to do with.

For Alon, that overflowing pile wasn’t just a packing headache – it was a lightbulb moment. “That was the turning point,” he says. “The issue wasn’t a lack of willingness – people want to give clothes a second life – the system just made it too hard.”

From ready meals to ready-to-wear (again)

Before launching Circular Clothing Co., Alon was deep in the healthy food game. His first business, Fitness Outcomes, was a bootstrapped venture he ran with family support, hand-packing ready meals and delivering them to local IGAs around WA.

“It started as a true bootstrapped family business,” he recalls. “We were packing meals by hand, delivering to local IGAs, and figuring things out as we went.” That hustle paid off. The brand eventually landed national distribution through Coles and Woollies before being sold to Patties Foods.

But even amid the success, Alon couldn’t unsee the waste.

“Retailers constantly pushed new SKUs to stay competitive and grab attention, with little regard for what had already been produced or promised. Perfectly good stock was left behind.”

That insight – that ‘off-trend’ often meant ‘off-shelf and into landfill’ – stuck with him. “It made me realise how broken the system was,” he says.

After exiting the food industry, Alon was ready for something smaller, more values-led. “For the first time in my adult working life, I wasn’t sure what came next,” he says. “But I had a clearer sense of what ‘meaningful’ looked like.”

Fashion’s dirty little secret

Alon didn’t have to look far. As he settled into his new Melbourne life, he noticed the same wasteful patterns he’d seen in food playing out in fashion – and at an even greater scale. “Our family had wardrobes full of quality clothes we no longer needed, but there wasn’t an easy or sustainable way to pass them on.”

Op shops were overwhelmed. Selling online was time-consuming. And the big resale platforms? “They’ve shifted to favour power sellers with ad budgets – or only cater for designer goods,” he says. “That excludes most people’s wardrobes.”

That’s where Circular Clothing Co. comes in: a slick, digital-first consignment marketplace that takes the hassle out of selling secondhand clothing – and turns buying pre-loved fashion into an easy, enjoyable, and fashion-forward experience.

Circular Clothing Co. take all the effort out of reselling your clothes

How Circular Clothing works

Selling with Circular isincredibly simple. You order a Clean Out Kit, fill it with the clothes you no longer wear, and send it back. “We handle the rest – photography, pricing, listings, shipping, and customer service,” Alon explains. “No effort, no chasing buyers, no strangers turning up at your door.”

Buyers get access to thousands of curated items – all quality-checked, photographed cleanly, and listed with clear condition notes. “It’s the same experience you’d expect from any modern retail store,” he says. “But with prices that are better for your wallet – and a far smaller footprint on the planet.”

From secondhand to first choice

Circular isn’t trying to be just another online op shop. It’s on a mission to change how we value the things we already own. “Fast fashion has normalised a culture of consumerism and increased waste,” says Alon. “We wanted to challenge that by making rewearing not just acceptable, but aspirational.”

The numbers back him up. Fashion is responsible for around 10 per cent of global carbon emissions – more than aviation and shipping combined. In Australia alone, we bin over 800,000 tonnes of textiles every year, with 93 per cent of it ending up in landfill. Circular fashion is the obvious antidote – but only if it’s easy and accessible.

That’s why Circular is built for everyday wardrobes, not just designer labels. “Most platforms only accept premium or designer brands,” he says. “We made a conscious decision to accept a wide range – because real impact comes from keeping more garments in circulation, not just the high-end ones.”

Doing their homework

Ahead of launching, Alon and the team surveyed over 800 Australians to understand what really drives secondhand shopping. The results were eye-opening:

87 per cent said affordability was their main reason for buying secondhand

78 per cent wanted a hassle-free way to sell their clothes

80 per cent said they’d be happy to submit lower-value items

“That feedback shaped almost everything we built,” says Alon.

And the early response has been swift. After a soft launch to test systems, the first full week of marketing saw them completely sell out of Clean Out Kits. “We’re now growing the team to keep up with demand,” he says. “It’s clear we’re solving a real problem.”

Tech-powered thrifting

One of the biggest differences between Circular Clothing and buying or selling on other popular secondhand marketplaces is their approach to pricing. Alon says you can forget about haggling with random buyers or undervaluing good pieces.

“We use AI-powered pricing to ensure every item is priced fairly and competitively,” says Alon.

This approach helps sellers get a decent return, and gives buyers confidence they’re scoring a good deal. The site is also designed to avoid the usual clutter of peer-to-peer marketplaces.

“No blurry photos. No vague listings. No awkward interactions,” he says. “We’re bringing professional retail standards to secondhand fashion.”

Moving away from fast fashion

Alon says Circular Clothing is more than a marketplace. The concept is part of a bigger trend among consumers away from fast fashion.

“We’re seeing a cultural reset around clothing,” Alon says. “Especially among Gen Z, who care deeply about sustainability but also value individuality and self-expression. They’re leading the charge – and we’re building the infrastructure to support that.”

For Alon, it’s about more than selling clothes.

“It’s about helping people realise that everything we own still has value. If we make it easier to keep it in circulation.”

This may sound idealistic, but Alon explains the dream is rooted in practicality.

“Not everyone has time to list things online or become a sustainability expert. But they do want to shop affordably and reduce waste. We’re meeting them where they are.”

Next steps for Circular Clothing Co

With early demand running hot, Circular Clothing Co. is expanding operations and scaling up its systems.

“We’re hiring, building better logistics, and continuing to refine the user experience,” Alon says. But the vision remains steady: to make secondhand the smart, easy, everyday choice. “If we can make secondhand feel as exciting and effortless as buying new, we can reshape the industry from the ground up.”

As for the dream scenario?

“I’d love to walk into someone’s home and hear them say, ‘Oh, I just sent a Clean Out Kit to Circular – it was so easy.’ That’s when we’ll know we’ve really shifted behaviour.”

From feeding families to cleaning out closets, Alon Dukorsky is proving that when you pair big ideas with real-world friction points – and a little bit of Aussie ingenuity – you can build businesses that do good, feel good, and actually work.

Now that’s fashion worth following.

Want more? Get our newsletter delivered straight to your inbox!  Follow Business Builders on Facebook , X , Instagram , and LinkedIn.