Tag: second-hand

Selling Fashion Clothing Moving Forward

fashion

Most if not all businesses have gone through upheaval in the last 18 months. Some industries are facing mayor changes post-Covid and perhaps some businesses will change forever. 

Fashion, and the selling of clothing had been facing many changes and disruptions before the pandemic. Closing, in some cases permanently, high street shops for months on ends did every little to help ailing businesses. The increase in buying clothing online and more importantly the huge increase in the re-sale market and an increased interest in mindful shopping, could change fashion retail and our high streets, for once and for all.

Whether the changes are due to shoppers keen to actively cut down on consumption by buying second-hand clothing or consumers just wanting discounted clothing, or a mix of the two we will have to see.  

Consumers are prioritizing sustainability and retailers are starting to embrace resale. We are in the early stages of a radical transformation in retail.    James Reinhart CEO thredUP 

One of the reasons behind retailers moving into the second-hand market is coming from pressure to reduce the environmental footprint of fashion. According to a report published by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the fashion industry is responsible for 10% of annual global carbon emissions.  (More than all international flights and maritime shipping combined) And approximately 20% of water pollution across the globe is the result of waste water from the production and the finishing of textiles. The report suggests that the fashion industry’s greenhouse gas emissions could increase by more than 50% by 2030. So, it is vital that the way the fashion industry functions as a whole does change its methods and now. 

Some large retailers like Nike are adapting their strategies. It launched its refurbished program where pre-owned shoes will be graded, sanitized, restored and then re-sold at 15 stores at a reduced price based on their condition. Fast-fashion chains are upping their green credentials, too, trying to win back young shoppers H & M has offered a conscious clothing collection for some time. And offers a discount when returning a bag of second-hand clothing.  

Asda is testing out second-hand clothing in 50 of its supermarkets, and John Lewis and Ikea are launching schemes to sell used furniture and fashion. Asda’s move into vintage clothing shows that second-hand “has the potential to go mainstream and is definitely becoming a more important part of how consumers purchase- Emily Salter at retail analyst GlobalData.  

More brands are expanding their reach to the re-sale market. Renowned luxury global brand, Gucci launched their own second-hand initiative in 2020. In partnership with US resale website, therealreal.com, which houses many other luxury brands, such as Stella McCartney and Burberry.

Levi launched its very own buy back site in October. Levi’s SecondHand allows consumers to turn in a pair of Levi’s in exchange for a gift card towards a future purchase, which the brand will then clean and sort for re-sale online. Levi’s chief marketing officer Jen Sey pointed out how the move is designed to appeal to the shopping habits of Generation Z: They love the hunt, they love finding a really unique item, and it makes it even better that it’s a sustainable choice. Buying a used pair of Levi’s saves approximately 80% of the CO2 emissions, and 1.5 pounds of waste, compared to buying a new pair. As we scale this, that will really start adding up. 

 The luxury online retailer MyTheresa  recently partnered with Vestiaire Collective to launch a re-sale service by inviting its top clients to sell their pre-loved luxury handbags online in exchange for store credit. Increasing the re-use of clothing is a big step toward a new normal in the fashion industry. As currently less than 1% of materials used to make clothing are recycled to make new clothing. 

I think the brands that have embraced their archives and encourage mixing new stuff with older pieces have a healthier relationship to their customers and to their business and their legacy overall. Anyone who cynically thinks the future is only in front of us and doesn’t have anything to do with what’s come before is a bit out of date–  Sally Singer, the former Vogue creative director   

In the UK alone, an astounding 336,000 tonnes of clothing are sent to landfill each year. Love Your Clothes, a campaign launched in 2014 to encourage change in how UK consumers buy, use and dispose of their clothing found that if we can extend the average life of our clothes to approximately three years, we could reduce their carbon, water and waste footprints. By investing time into extending the lifespan of clothes, the outcome will not only benefit the fashion industry but the environment. 

The resale sector will eventually make up a huge percentage of the fashion industry, people are showing they are more and more interested in sustainable fashion clothing- Rosie Mckeown, owner of vintage and sustainable fashion, Depop

I am interested to see whether this is a long term move or a fad, industry experts say the former, I am inclined to agree. I try to buy less clothing myself, keep in for longer and look at re-sale options over fast-fashion. It makes sense on several levels. Our throwaway attitudes do need to change, buying cheap has a bigger cost to us all.  

Think Second-Hand First- The Fashion Re-sale Market

fashion

The re-sale fashion market will eclipse fast fashion in a decade. While fast fashion is expected to continue to grow 20% in the next 10 years, second-hand fashion is poised to grow by 185%. The growth of the online re-sale clothing market was evident long before Covid-19, fuelled by younger consumers turning their back on fast fashion for a more sustainable, affordable and creative way to shop for clothing.

Fashion re-sale also known as recommence sites is a large consumer market with lower prices allowing for a more diversely budgeted audience. The increase in purchases of second-hand clothing is due to a wide range of factors, one of which is the tighter budgets of many consumers throughout lockdown, with shoppers having little to no disposable income. Store shutdowns, temporarily and permanently, have played a part in the surge in second-hand shopping, to, with people unable shop from high street and charity shops stores now looking for an online alternative. Saving money isn’t the only motivation, with wider concerns about the environment and mass-consumerism urging people to buy and sell pre-owned goods.

“The production of clothing is incredibly resource intensive, re-wearing a garment and extending its lifespan by a mere nine months can help to reduce its environmental impact by up to 30%, so buying second-hand is an incredibly easy way to do this.”  sustainable fashion blogger, Charlotte

Fashion resale apps, stores and websites have seen an unprecedented growth throughout 2020. Lockdown gave consumers time to research into the effects of fast fashion and the need for keeping our garments in a cycle, rather than sending them to landfill. With lockdown giving an unlimited amount of time to deep-clean wardrobes, and the realisation of just how much is bought and not worn. As consumers embrace more affordable clothing instead of buying brand new. As well as reducing spending, online resale apps enable users to make money or earn an additional income. Whether consumer behaviour will change after the pandemic eases and this will only be temporary, we will have to wait and see. (Now people no longer have to stay home, sorting through old clothes may have less appeal) When money gets tight discounted clothing allows fashion to be a more accessible market to all. Many industry experts think this is a permanent move.

 A report published by ThredUp has shown that by 2029 the second-hand fashion market will have grown a worth of over 80 billion dollars. (Almost twice the size of the fast fashion market) The report also found that a record 33 million people bought second-hand clothing for the first time in 2020. Of these first-time buyers, 76% plan on increasing their share of resale purchases in the next five years.

On eBay, sales of pre-loved fashion have shot up in the UK over the past year, with the company selling more than 60 million used items. Murray Lambell, the general manager of eBay’s UK business, said: “There is definitely a change in mindset, driven by younger consumers up to the age of 30.” Trends in fashion come back around year after year, so recycling and archiving them for the next generation coupled with an appreciation of vintage design and a desire to create a more individual look beyond mass-produced fast fashion by Generation Z makes this a successful move.

But even though Generation Z is driving the second-hand revival( no pun intended), they’re not the only ones getting swept up in the trend. Emily Farra reported in Vogue in 2020 that in Lyst’s annual Year Fashion report, it revealed an 35,000 increase in searches for vintage fashion and a 104% increase in entries for second-hand-related keywords.

“It gives an item a second life, which is absolutely fantastic, not to mention how sustainable buying second hand is.” Cieran Harris, Company Director of Timeless Vintage Co

A decade ago, consumer attitudes toward pre-owned clothing was decidedly negative. This year has brought a shift in perspective with shoppers now being more open to purchasing from re-sellers than ever before. Any stigma around second-hand fashion being uncool or unhygienic has dissolved with customers now proud of their thrifted finds. The re-commerce market now has an aura of environmental and social responsibility. More brands are open to the idea that second-hand fashion is the way to revolutionise their sales and reach more consumers. (I will discuss this further in another blog post)

This means the new online marketplaces must work hard to stand out, spending more on marketing and advertising. Vinted (an app that lets users buy and sell pre-owned clothes) now advertise on national TV and was recently valued at 3.5 billion euros. I have successfully bought and sold on vinted for about 8 years. But be warned it can be addictive.

Resale will be an assumed part of the luxury buying experience,” Allison Sommer at Real Real

Although there’s still plenty of luck with buying second-hand, the Internet has become home to many, easily searchable re-sale sites. The second-hand clothing market is composed of two major categories, charity stops and re-sale platforms. But it’s the latter that has largely fuelled the recent boom. A trend of “fashion flipping” which is buying second-hand clothes and reselling them particularly popular among young consumers.

Researchers who study clothing consumption and sustainability, think the second-hand clothing trend has the potential to reshape the fashion industry mitigating the industry’s detrimental environmental impact on the planet. Even more transformative is second-hand clothing’s potential to dramatically alter the prominence of fast fashion (disposable) in the early 2000’s. More clothes were produced and distributed at lower costs, encouraging shoppers to buy more and often wear only once.

It could be that the trend for buying and selling used clothes ends up being a passing trend, once things go back to normal and we return to the high street. Or perhaps it is the way forward for buying fashion clothing?

Millennials and Pre-loved Clothing

Lifestyle

As a design student, I always shopped in second-hand clothing stores and charity shops, living close to Leeds and then in London, there was a huge amount of choice. As I could sew, I also customized my finds. Even as a schoolgirl, I never wanted to look the same as anyone else, I loved clothes but had a limited budget. The second-hand or thrifting market (I prefer the title pre-loved) was perfect for me, much to my mum’s dismay.

Shopping in charity shops and second-hand clothing stores used to be for students, low income shoppers and the more bohemian. But the expansion and diversification of the used clothing market is attracting a new clientele, many of them younger shoppers who don’t even remember when vintage was in fashion before. Millennials are turning to second-hand buying at a rate of 250% faster than any other age groups. Mercari noted in its research, that half of all millennial’s said they would rather own fewer, high-end designer brand items than more inexpensive, mass-produced clothing. A recent UK survey claims that more than half of the consumers in the key 25-34 age group are buying second-hand fashion. As well as that, 50% of them have repaired damaged or worn-out clothes and further down the age scale, 75% of 16-24-year-old Britons say they have swapped fashion items with others or would be interested in doing so in the future.

So, it’s worth considering why second-hand fashion is now so much more popular. Younger consumers have a few specific qualities that have driven the growth of the re-sale and second-hand market and that also has implications for our planet. In a world where social media is king, the need to repeatedly produce Insta-worthy or Pinterest-worthy posts is quickly driving young people to expand their wardrobe’s. If you don’t want to be seen wearing the same item twice, you’ll either need a huge budget, or you’ll need to look to more economical ways to subsidise your look. Vintage items and rare finds can be proudly shown off in Instagram posts to envious followers, in a way that buying on the high-street doesn’t.

Additionally, 50% of the same age group are turning their fashion into cash and selling unwanted clothes. (The number doing this for the wider age range is still only 35%) Websites like Vinted can be used through a phone App and are incredibly quick and easy to use. I have been buying and selling through Vinted for several years and I would highly recommend it. Buying and selling second-hand clothing is becoming easier and more fashionable. Consumers no longer have to go to charity stores and can buy on eBay or via higher-end resale sites. Charities are increasingly offering upscale items in their online stores and merchandising their high-street stores to a high standard. The fashion industry are starting to embrace resale, with some companies like Topshop and TK Maxx offering pre-loved items for sale. Fashion rental, which has been around for decades, mostly for evening wear, is also having a resurgence.

There is a really a clear trend towards adopting second-hand fashion, whether it’s for ethical reasons, money-saving purposes or style choices. Ethical fashion is becoming more important to us, but when trying to apply ethical principles to general fashion clothing, many UK consumers say they find it difficult to know which fashion retailers are truly ‘ethical’. Researchers at Mintel spoke to over 1,800 fashion shoppers of all ages and said that “savvy young Britons are buying, selling, mending, swapping and renting their clothes”.

Vogue magazine asked its younger readers about buying pre-loved fashion, many of the comments were similar, to the one below:

 Shopping vintage or second-hand has always allowed me to feel individual, and to find pieces which excite me. I have since become more conscious of the ethical and environmental impact.

The second-hand clothing market could not be growing at a better time. Producing and discarding clothing continues to have a huge impact on the environment, even more so in recent decades because of the shorter “life” of most fashion clothing.

As the world’s economy continues to suffer the monumental impacts of coronavirus and reduced consumer spending, the clothing re-sale market is likely to be an even bigger competitor to classic retail (i.e. buying new). Having less-expensive clothes delivered to your door via courier is also likely to compete with shopping in a physical store. I wonder how this will affect the ailing high street. Many well- know fashion retailers are struggling, some well-know brands have even disappeared from the high-street all together. The last few pieces of clothing, I purchased were from a charity shop and an online second- hand clothing website. I rarely find clothing I like in shops now. Fashion retailers seem to be out of touch with what consumers actually want to buy.

Thrifting, it seems to be the way forward, particularly among young (and even more mature) British fashion shoppers.