Jessica Coote turns wardrobe problem into sustainable fashion business in Dubai

When British expat Jessica Coote moved to Dubai in 2024, she found herself facing a familiar problem: a wardrobe filled with perfectly wearable clothes she no longer used.

Selling them individually was time-consuming. Photographing pieces, creating listings, responding to buyers and managing every transaction required more effort than she wanted to give.

So Coote began searching for a service that would simply take the clothes and handle everything for her.

When she could not find one, she decided to build it herself.

Today, she is the founder and CEO of Closet Concierge, a UAE-based consignment business designed to make buying and selling pre-loved fashion easier.

A personal frustration became a business idea

Closet Concierge grew directly from Coote’s own experience.

She realised that many people had wardrobes full of clothes that were still in good condition but rarely worn. The issue was not necessarily a lack of willingness to sell them — it was the inconvenience involved.

Her solution was to remove as much of that work as possible.

Instead of asking sellers to photograph every item, write descriptions, create listings and manage buyers themselves, Closet Concierge handles the resale process on their behalf.

For Coote, the goal was to build the service she had originally wanted as a customer.

Making pre-loved fashion easier in the UAE

Coote does not see resale simply as a cheaper way to shop.

Her wider ambition is to make pre-loved fashion a normal part of the shopping experience in the UAE.

That includes giving clothes a longer useful life rather than allowing unwanted pieces to remain forgotten inside wardrobes.

She believes Dubai is particularly well suited to the concept.

The city has a highly fashion-conscious population, a strong retail culture and a constant cycle of new trends. At the same time, awareness around sustainability and consumption is increasing.

That creates an opportunity for clothing to move between owners rather than being worn only a handful of times and then abandoned.

Why Dubai made sense

Coote felt there was room for a resale service built specifically around the lifestyle of UAE consumers.

Second-hand fashion platforms are already well established in several international markets, but she saw an opportunity to adapt the model to the way people in Dubai shop and live.

She has also found the UAE’s entrepreneurial environment supportive.

In particular, Coote says other small businesses — including female-founded companies — have been willing to share advice, collaborate and support her during the early stages of Closet Concierge.

That community became particularly valuable because she was learning much of the business as she went.

Learning e-commerce from scratch

Coote did not come from an online retail background.

Launching Closet Concierge meant teaching herself areas ranging from Shopify and SEO to marketing, social media, logistics and daily operations.

Not every strategy worked.

Some marketing ideas had to be abandoned, while certain processes needed to be completely redesigned.

One of the most important lessons, she says, was learning not to see every failed idea as a personal failure.

Instead, she began treating setbacks as information: if one approach did not produce the desired result, the next task was simply to find another route.

Building the company without outside funding

Closet Concierge has remained self-funded, giving Coote control over the direction of the company while also forcing her to think carefully about every investment.

Rather than trying to scale as quickly as possible, she has chosen a more gradual approach.

Money is reinvested selectively into areas that can improve the service or support future growth.

Although Coote comes from a business-minded family, their experience lies in different countries and industries, meaning much of her knowledge has still come through research, experimentation and asking questions.

Her experience has reinforced her belief that entrepreneurs can teach themselves a significant amount if they are willing to put in the time.

The first anniversary proved the idea could work

One of Coote’s most meaningful milestones was not a financial target.

It was Closet Concierge’s first birthday event.

Until then, much of the business had existed through an online relationship between the company, buyers and sellers.

The event allowed her to meet customers in person and hear directly how they felt about the service.

For a founder who had spent considerable time wondering whether the idea would work at all, seeing people repeatedly trust the company with their clothes became proof that Closet Concierge had developed into a genuine community.

Leaving the 9-to-5

Eventually, Coote made one of the biggest decisions of her entrepreneurial journey: she left her traditional job to focus on Closet Concierge full-time.

It was not an easy decision.

Like many founders, she experienced moments when the pressure of building a company made her question whether taking the risk had been worthwhile.

But the potential she saw in the concept ultimately convinced her to continue.

Her advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is not to wait until they feel completely prepared.

Fear, she believes, is normal when making a major change — and waiting for the perfect moment can mean never starting at all.

Avoiding the social media comparison trap

Coote also warns entrepreneurs against comparing their progress with what they see online.

Social media usually shows successful launches, growth and achievements rather than the difficult decisions, failed ideas and periods of uncertainty that happen behind the scenes.

That can create an unrealistic picture of entrepreneurship.

For Coote, building Closet Concierge has been a process of constant adjustment rather than a straightforward success story.

From Dubai to other markets

The next ambition is to establish Closet Concierge as one of the UAE’s leading destinations for pre-loved fashion before eventually expanding into other markets.

But Coote’s immediate mission remains much simpler: changing how people think about the clothes they already own.

An item that no longer suits one person does not automatically need to become waste.

It may simply belong in someone else’s wardrobe.

That idea was enough for Jessica Coote to leave her job and build a company from scratch — betting that in a city famous for fashion and new trends, there is also space for clothes to have a second life.