How secondhand clothing market can solve sustainability crisis in fashion industry?
Posted on Aug 06th 2021
The secondhand clothing has the potential to alter the prominence of fast fashion – a business model which produces cheap and disposable clothes for short term use. Fast fashion emerged in early 2000s and it grew exponentially in the next two decades, dramatically altering the fashion industry by producing more and more clothing.
Research has shown that secondhand clothing industry to counter the detrimental environment impact caused by the industry.
How secondhand clothing market work?
This market includes two major categories:
1. Thrift stores
2. Resale platforms
The resale platforms are the major cause of this boom. Secondhand clothing had been perceived as tainted and worn out in the previous years, but this perception is changed, and many people consider buying quality products in the resale markets. Unlike before, now young consumers are also interested in buying resale clothes.
Because of developing consumer interest and new online platforms like Tradesy and Poshmark that work with shared trade of ordinary clothing, the advanced resale market is rapidly turning into the following huge thing in the fashion industry.
The market for used luxury products also has the potential. Retailers like The RealReal or the Vestiaire Collective give a digital commercial center to validated luxury transfer, where individuals purchase and sell designer labels like Louis Vuitton, Chanel, and Hermès. The market worth of this sector came to $2B in 2019.
More mindful consumer:
The fashion industry has for some time been related with social and environmental issues, going from poor treatment of clothing laborers to contamination and waste created by clothing production.
Under 1% of materials used to make clothing are right now reused to make new clothing, a $500 billion yearly misfortune for the fashion business. The material business creates more fossil fuel byproducts than the airline and maritime ventures combined. What's more, roughly 20% of water contamination across the globe is the consequence of wastewater from the production and finishing of textiles.