As the fashion industry faces mounting pressure to curb waste and emissions, South African fashion venture Faro is stepping up with a tech-driven, sustainable alternative. The startup is transforming surplus stock from global brands into affordable luxury fashion, using AI to optimise its supply chain and elevate customer experience—all while creating jobs and reducing environmental impact.
Faro operates under a bold mission: to make high-end fashion more accessible to South Africans while reducing textile waste that would otherwise be destroyed or discarded. With the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation in Europe tightening rules on unsold inventory, Faro offers global brands a traceable, ethical solution to redistribute their stock.
At the heart of Faro’s operations is its proprietary AI platform, Faro IQ, which uses predictive analytics to allocate products to stores based on real shopping behaviour. This smart system tags products with attributes, forecasts demand, automates pricing and allocation decisions, and personalises marketing campaigns—all in real time.
“By designing AI-powered agents to automate complex workflows, we are able to streamline our operations, a key differentiator from legacy retailers,” says co-founder and COO Amber Penney.
Faro’s model has already seen strong local traction. Its stores stock discounted items from top global brands like G-Star, Zara, Levi’s, Guess, Jack & Jones, and Steve Madden—items that might have gone unsold overseas but are now driving demand locally. The company’s first store opened in Mitchell’s Plain in 2023. It now operates six stores in major malls like The Glen, Fourways, and N1 City.
Beyond fashion, Faro is also tackling unemployment. The company has already created over 150 jobs across its retail and logistics network and projects over 4,000 jobs by 2028.
In late 2024, Faro secured $6 million in funding from JP Zammitt, president of Bloomberg, to further expand its store footprint and refine its technology. With plans to scale to 1,000 stores across South Africa and other emerging markets, Faro is positioning itself not just as a retailer, but as a movement for affordable, ethical, and inclusive fashion.
As co-founder and CCO Chris Makhanya puts it, “Shopping should feel luxurious for everyone.” With Faro, it finally can.