This Hong Kong-based entrepreneur founded Pakt – a digital wardrobe service that stores and manages your clothes
Amid growing consumption of luxury in Asia, Barbara Yu Larsson founded Pakt to combat the issue of space while allowing clients to see exactly what is in their closet.
Barbara Yu Larsson believes that “entrepreneurship happens when you have a problem that you want to solve”. In 2010, she relocated from London to Hong Kong with her family. Moving to a space-strapped city posed a problem – Yu Larsson had a smaller wardrobe space to store seasonal clothes such as ski jackets and winter wear.
“In Hong Kong, you wear them for maybe two months in a year. But we needed them because we travel often,” said Yu Larsson. “I asked our serviced apartment if they had a storage solution for us and they said yes, but the clothes would be placed in a suitcase in the back of house with no climate control. I wasn’t prepared to put my nice things in a situation like that.”
Yu Larsson was born in Taipei, grew up in New York and worked in Tokyo and London. She calls herself an “accidental entrepreneur”, having previously worked in investment banking and executive search. “I never really thought I’d become an entrepreneur, because I didn’t think of myself as a particularly creative person,” she admitted.
Still, the idea of launching a wardrobe management service had already taken root before she moved to Hong Kong. In London, she had met the head of an art and wine storage company, who had a client that had stored 400 suits in his unit. “He said, Barbara, I don’t know what to do with them. So we talked about starting something, and the idea was very different from what Pakt is today,” shared Yu Larsson.
Back then, Yu Larsson had toyed around with the idea of having aluminium pods for people to store clothes that they didn’t need to have in their homes all the time, which could be shipped around the world. But as the 2008 financial crisis struck, the idea was put on the backburner.
She revisited it again after her move to Hong Kong. “I was intrigued by the humidity, lack of space and the way people in Hong Kong would just dispose of their clothes or give them to their helper when they got a bit mouldy. I thought, there’s got to be a better way to do this,” said Yu Larsson.
She started talking to people to see if there was a pain point she could solve. “People had so little space, and they were using that extra bedroom or corner in their apartment to store things badly. Then they would go away, and sometimes the air conditioning would break down and they come home to mouldy clothes.”
Pak was eventually launched in 2016 offering several services. Firstly, a valet comes to your home to collect the garments or accessories you wish to place into storage. “I wanted it to be a white glove service to give the impression that your clothes are being taken care of,” said Yu Larsson.
The items are stored in Pakt’s climate-controlled storage facilities, freeing up space in the home. The team inspects each item, providing a detailed condition report. The items are then photographed and catalogued, with a digital inventory clients can view on the mobile app. Should clients need an item, they can simply request for delivery, with the item reaching as soon as the next day. Through a partnership with Vestiaire Collective, the company also facilitates the reselling of items that its clients no longer want to keep.
“Many of our clients have said that they can’t live without our service, because it helps them better manage their wardrobe. They know what they have, so they are smarter shoppers. They become more responsible and intentional consumers, because they actually know that they don’t need to buy that 10th black jumper that they already have,” shared Yu Larsson.
It was Yu Larsson’s daughter who came up with the name Pakt. “We were trying to come up with a name and my daughter said, it’s got to be short. We wanted a name that sounded reliable,” she recalled. “She suggested Pakt as a play on words. It means to pack your bag, and also means a pact between us.”
According to Yu Larrson, Pakt’s clients in Hong Kong are made up of mostly professional and fashion-conscious women, who store almost everything from Birkin bags to wedding gowns. “We had many brides who had to postpone their weddings during the COVID-19 pandemic, so they stored their wedding gowns with us.”
“It isn’t always about space, because many of these women have huge houses up on the Peak or Southside. It’s about knowing what they have through a digital inventory, and clothing care, knowing that their clothes will be looked after well,” she added.
While the company started off with mostly a female clientele, it now has a growing male clientele, who store mostly coats and suits. After establishing a presence in Hong Kong, Yu Larsson expanded the service into Singapore in October 2023. Prices start from S$7 for storage of one item per month. Specialty pieces such as bridalwear, luxury handbags and couture gowns cost S$40 per item a month.
“We always expected the Singapore market to be different,” she said. “In Hong Kong, we have a slight seasonal change so customers do have a fall/winter wardrobe of sorts. It isn’t exactly the same as in Singapore, but people do travel a lot so they need a winter wardrobe. They do ski and have evening clothes, or other things they don’t need to have in their apartment all the time.”
Singapore is Pakt’s first stop on its journey to become a global company. Larsson hopes to expand other cities such as Bangkok, Seoul and Tokyo. “We’re definitely looking to expand regionally because what Pakt does is solve urban issues of space and climate. The middle class is growing fast in Asia and therefore, consumption is growing. People want to become more responsible consumers and Pakt is a very good way to extend the life of their garments.”
Pakt also offers a traveller service. Clients who travel frequently to Singapore and Hong Kong can leave a capsule wardrobe in storage. This can include items such as suits, evening dresses, shoes, toiletries, gym wear, electronics and more, so users of the service can arrive luggage free in their destination. “When you leave the country, we collect the items from you and we get them laundered so they are ready to wear the next time you come back,” explained Yu Larsson.
While Pakt started off as a B2C company, it has since expanded its B2B services. In Hong Kong, it partners with property developer Swire to offer its services to tenants and owners of its luxury apartments on a complimentary basis. The service is currently offered at Pacific Place Apartments and Eight Star Street. In Singapore, Pakt is offered at Mandarin Oriental’s residential suites, and the company is in talks with more Singapore-based serviced apartments.
Future rollouts on the Pakt app include a wardrobe sharing feature, where users can share their clothes with a group of friends, as well as a renting feature, where users can put their items up for rent, Yu Larsson added.
As for the company’s ultimate vision, “I’d like to think that Pakt will one day become a utility,” she reflected. “Every high-end building will offer our service because it’s just a better way to manage your wardrobe. Maybe that means you’ll have two items stored with us, or maybe you’ll have 50. It’s not about how many items you put into storage, it’s about caring for those items that require extra attention. Luxury consumption is growing in Asia, and those beautifully made items of yours deserve to be looked after.”