French second-hand fashion retailer Vestiaire Collective shows how resale platforms can reduce the environmental impact of the fashion industry in a new impact report, produced in collaboration with PwC.
“Vestiaire Collective’s business model is truly unique. It is our job in the Sustainability & Inclusion team to provide the right data to support this claim and to constantly push ourselves to improve. In return, the industry is being challenged to change faster. We are aware of the fact that resale still contributes to overconsumption. That’s why it’s important for us to work with our community to show alternatives to fast fashion and ensure we make the greatest impact,” said Dounia Wone, Chief Sustainability and Inclusion Officer at Vestiaire Collective in a statement.
Monetization of the positive resale effects
As the first platform in the resale industry, the B-Corp certified company uses an innovative monetization technique to show the positive effects of resale on the fashion industry. It was shown that buying from Vestiaire Collective saves 90 percent of the environmental costs of a new item.
“The calculation of monetary environmental impacts – a methodology that is relatively new in the fashion industry – makes it possible to measure different environmental factors on the same level. The calculated environmental impact per second-hand purchase on Vestiaire Collective is €0.39. That is only a tenth of the environmental impact of a new purchase,” explains Vestiaire Collective in the statement.
As part of the report, the fashion retailer surveyed 2,363 members from 57 countries. 70 percent of buyers said Vestiaire Collective prevented a new purchase – 17 percent more than previous studies on resale platforms. In addition, each item of clothing purchased via the platform saves 17 kilograms of CO2, which corresponds to the emissions of a 100-kilometer journey with an average new car.
quality not quantity
The Impact Report also found that Vestiaire Collective and its focus on quality items encourages members to invest in quality. These items have a higher resale value and are designed to last longer.
“The so-called upscale effect leads to fewer new purchases, as buyers consume fewer clothes but of better quality. In addition, the survey revealed that very few members (only 10 percent) use the profits from the sale of second-hand fashion for new purchases,” Vestiaire Collective found.
Resale platforms thus play a central role in changing purchasing behavior: 50 percent of sellers stated that they would not have resold their items without the platform.
An estimated 120 billion new clothes and shoes are bought every year. The resale sector is thus making a significant contribution to the change in the industry and is growing steadily: its market share is expected to double from 9 percent to 18 percent between 2022 and 2030. If this growth continues, the number of items resold instead of newly purchased will save 38 billion euros in environmental impacts by 2030, the company estimates.
“It is very encouraging to see the impact that high-end fashion resale platforms like Vestiaire Collective can have in furthering the circular fashion movement. We hope that the work we are doing in this space will inspire businesses and consumers to change and consume less but better to further reduce the environmental damage of the fashion industry,” concludes Fanny Moizant, co-founder & President of Vestiaire Collective.