The Founder's Edit: Allison Lee –The Visionary Leading The Charge In Fashion Sustainability

Forbes

12-05-2025

Allison Lee, Founder & CEO of Revive
Revive
In the world of fashion innovation, one name is quickly rising to the forefront: Allison Lee, founder of Revive, a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree. Lee, a Korean immigrant who arrived in the U.S. at the age of 13, has a journey to entrepreneurial success marked by reinvention, perseverance, and a clear purpose.
Graduating with a degree in psychology from the University of California, Berkeley, Lee had no intention of following a traditional career path. Despite the influence of her father, a psychiatrist, and the typical Asian family expectation to pursue a career in finance, medicine, or law, Lee knew she belonged in the exciting world of tech startups and entrepreneurship. After several roles with tech startup firms, Lee followed her passion and founded Hemster. Hemster focused on providing retailer alteration services, a unique niche that utilizes technology to capture personalized fit data, streamlining the tailoring process for omnichannel brands. Raising her first round of funding was a monumental challenge as Lee had no connections in the venture capital space. As a young female Asian American founder, she also faced the added barriers of unconscious bias and skepticism from investors.
Lee persisted, knowing that the road to success would not be easy. Despite the odds, she successfully obtained her first round of funding, and Hemster began to thrive. However, when the pandemic struck, Hemster's model of offering in-person alteration services experienced a sharp decline. Like many other entrepreneurs faced with a sudden disruption, Lee took the pandemic as an opportunity to rethink her approach and pivot flexibly. Instead of wiping the board and starting from scratch, she asked herself: What was an issue within the fashion industry that she was uniquely positioned to solve—and how could she utilize Hemster's existing data science infrastructure to provide a solution?
That was the lightbulb moment for Lee as she realized retailers face significant return, markdown, and loss rates due to damaged or slightly imperfect merchandise. Items that are often still in good condition but deemed unsellable. Returns and waste have become a significant problem in the fashion industry. Studies indicate that the retail sector generates approximately 92 million tons of textile waste annually. This waste incurs substantial environmental and financial costs due to overproduction and the fast fashion model. Retailers lose billions of dollars from returns, and many items ultimately end up in landfills, contributing to a $500 billion waste crisis each year.
Lee's keen observation inspired her to create Revive, a company that restores these damaged items instead of discarding them. Leveraging the data science infrastructure she had built with Hemster, Lee turned her attention to refurbishing and reselling these damaged items. Revive allowed her to provide brands a new way to salvage lost inventory, reduce waste, and contribute to a more sustainable and profitable fashion ecosystem.
Revive generates revenue by partnering with brands to receive unsellable returns, which are then assessed using data science to determine the damage and set a refurbishment budget per item. Once the budget is approved, items are repaired by vetted contractors and vendors who meet ethical and environmental standards. Brands are given the first opportunity to resell the refurbished goods at full price. Any unsold items are listed on Revive's marketplace, including platforms like eBay and ThredUp, with Revive taking a commission on those sales. This model generates a sustainable revenue stream through service fees for refurbishment and commissions from reselling, helping reduce the fashion industry's growing waste problem.
With the launch of Revive in 2023, Lee quickly proved that sustainability could be profitable. Through partnerships with global brands, Revive became the go-to solution for inventory management and product refurbishment. The company's growth was staggering—46x in just 11 months—surpassing even Lee's own expectations. Growth wasn't just about numbers. For Lee, it was validation that the market was ready for a sustainable, data-driven company that minimized waste and maximized value. Revive helped brands recover lost revenue and move towards a more sustainable future by providing them with the solution to refurbish and resell damaged goods.
In 2024, Lee found the second round of fundraising for Revive to be much easier. With a proven track record, stronger connections, and a more experienced team, she successfully raised $3.5 million in funding. This milestone highlighted her resilience, knowledge, and confidence. Lee's successful journey illustrates the true essence of a founder. Overcoming adversity as an immigrant and raising funds, she has become a Founder and CEO, a pioneering Asian female leader in a male-dominated industry. Her journey demonstrates that perseverance and hard work can break barriers. More importantly, Lee believes that success is not just about making money but also about discovering her purpose. Allison Lee's story is a reminder that true innovation involves navigating uncertainty, embracing failure, and ultimately forging your path.
Lee's advice to aspiring entrepreneurs—especially young women of color—is straightforward: "If you're meant to be doing something, you will know it. Don't be afraid to take risks, but be prepared to face the challenges. Entrepreneurship is not glamorous, but it is incredibly rewarding."