New Fashion trend – Secondhand clothes find a new home at the ramp.

The term “Fashion” evokes the imagery of fashion shows, trendy clothes, top models, ramp and glitzy lights and music, basically a glamorous hangout.

At fashion weeks around the world, designers create new collections, signaling the colors and silhouettes that are now in vogue—prompting fashionable consumers to freshen up their wardrobe with new styles.

This constant push to get consumers to buy more is driving the planet to destruction. The industry now churns?out more than 100 billion clothes annually?and is responsible for?8% of global carbon emissions .?

Few brands are now championing the cause of sustainability. Brand like DVF, Ulla Johnson, and luxury shoe brand Sarah Flint are all participating in Secondhand September, a movement that encourages consumers to buy used garments instead of new ones, if they need to update their closets.

Resale is the mantra for keeping the life of the garments longer and avoiding them ending in the landfills.

Winds of change in fashion

Brands are now thinking about how they can help customers buy and sell secondhand products.

But while brands are now embracing resale, the big question is whether these efforts are actually reducing the number of clothes churned out every year.

That’s the goal, but unfortunately there isn’t enough reliable data right now to determine if this is happening.?

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Platforms like Yerdle and ThredUp, for instance, which is a large online thrift store, has begun partnering with brands to power their own resale websites.

Brands like Madewell, Banana Republic, and Reformation have all signed up.

But while these platforms help customers find used garments, they too help brands to find a new revenue stream i.e. resale of their used or excess inventory at an attractive value.

Brands like DVF have a section on their website wherein customers can sell products from previous seasons.

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Luxury brands embracing resale as customer acquisition channel.

The luxury brand Oscar de la Renta has a broader goal of the resale site is to promote the timelessness of the garments.

The brands has now realized that resale can also help expand the brand’s customer base.

Since the original garments have an elevated price point, with dresses starting at around $400, secondhand pieces may be more appealing to consumers who love the brand but are on a tighter budget.

The resale program attracts a new genre of the customer segment who wants to try out the fashion items from their favored brand without burning a hole in their pocket.

Way forward:

With GenZ and millennials opting for sustainable brands thus forcing both fashion brands and Designers to create a “Timeless fashion collection” which can be resold again thus increasing the lifetime of the garment.

Resale is about giving people the opportunity to find the dress that is perfect for them from the whole history of the brand, rather than whatever is in the current collection.

If you are a business owner operating in the beauty/fragrance genre & want to grow your business & need a retail expert to help you achieve your “Vision to Reality” framework then feel free to write to me at [email protected] & schedule a discovery listening call over a #coffeechat.