Oliver Bonas are teaming up repair and resale provider Reskinned for a take-back service, with consumers receiving a £25 e-voucher when they trade-in pre-loved clothing.
It is just the latest partnership, with a number of fashion retailers turning to recommerce providers to facilitate a second-hand offering.
This is unsurprising with UK consumers among the keenest to shop sustainably and ethically, according to RetailX’s UK Fashion 2023 report.
It found 86% of UK fashion consumers want their clothes to be made ethically and 72% of them sustainably – with as many as 53% of them willing to pay more to see this happen. This has not only shifted how fashion manufacturers, brands and retailers are approaching the clothing they offer, but it is also seeing customers looking towards re-using and reselling garments to meet both their ecological and ethical mores and fight the rising cost of living.
As a result, the second-hand market in the UK is booming. Clothing is already the most popular second-hand trope, with a third (29%) of consumers buying it. Sales of second-hand bags and accessories (15%) and footwear (15%) are also starting to grow.
Buy-back schemes and second-hand collections are being offered by the likes of:
- Boden via Thrift+
- Fat Face via Thrift+
- Finisterre via Reskinned
- Gymshark via Thrift+
- H&M through their own platform
- John Lewis via Stuffstr
- Joules via Reskinned
- Karen Millen via Thrift+
- Levi use Trove’s platform
- Lululemon use Trove’s platform
- M&S’ Shwop is in partnership with Oxfam
- Mango via Thrift+
- Patagonia use Trove’s platform
- River Island via Reskinned
- Seasalt Cornwall via Reskinned
- Superdry via Thrift+
- Sweaty Betty via Reskinned
- White Stuff via Thrift+
- Zara through their own platform
Furthermore, luxury department store Selfridges has pledged that half of its interactions with customers will be based on resale, repair, rental or refills by 2030.
It is also not simply fashion that is turning to resale offerings, a range of consumer electronics and technology is being taken back by the likes of Currys and eBay before being refurbished and resold. RetailX’s report concluded that there will be more of this in the years ahead as both value for money and sustainability concerns drive up re-use.
