Fast Fashion resale platforms: performative or productive?

By Anika Dilawri

11 / 15 / 2022

In February, fast fashion brand PrettyLittleThing announced the launch of their first in-house resale app, with the intention to “encourage sustainability” and “disrupt the fashion industry.” In August, Urban Outfitters announced their own version of an in-house resale platform. H&M, Shein, Zara, and countless other fast fashion brands eventually followed suit. Fast fashion brands are capitalizing on the exponential growth of the secondhand market with their newest venture: online resale platforms. Fashion resale can be an effective way to achieve more circularity in the industry, but are Zara and Shein’s resale platforms a sincere effort to reduce waste or simply a greenwashing scheme? 

The secondhand market has skyrocketed with the emergence of resale platforms such as Depop, The RealReal, and Vestiaire Collective. Thanks to e-commerce, the global secondhand apparel market is projected to grow 3X faster than the global apparel market overall. According to ThredUp’s 2022 Resale Report, the American secondhand market is expected to more than double by 2026, reaching $82 billion. Plus, brands with their own in-house resale platforms increased 275% from 2020 to 2021. Consumers see the secondhand market as more inclusive and accessible, with 244 million consumers in 2021 reporting that they have or are open to shopping second hand products. 

Fashion industry and sustainability experts are skeptical of the motivation and effectiveness of fast fashions’ resale platforms. UK fast fashion giant PrettyLittleThing’s resale platform exchanges customers’ unwanted clothes for store credit and discounts. When resale platforms offer store credit in return for fast fashion products without actionable degrowth commitments, neither consumption nor production are reduced–especially when fast fashion brands such as PLT release over 250 new products every week. These programs incentivize customers to increase their consumption by exchanging their pre-owned items for store credit. When evaluating the effectiveness of fast fashion’s resale platforms, it’s important to ask: does the brand tie their resale program back to genuine sustainability goals and transparently report on their progress?

Fast fashion garments’ poor quality also limits the effectiveness of these brands’ resale platforms. Resale platforms from companies such as Shein may stall garments from entering the landfill, but ultimately fast fashion’s cheap materials and low quality are not built to survive resale. Consumerism and the need for these brands to keep up with the latest trends may also limit the success of fast fashion resale programs. On an average day, Shein will add over 2,000 new items to its store. Consumers recognize this pressure to keep up with the latest trends as well, citing social media as a key source of this pressure. 

Despite fast fashion’s meager efforts, fashion resale platforms are not all superficial, greenwashing schemes. Cuyana, a women’s accessory brand whose philosophy is “fewer, better”, released a resale program in April that allows customers to sell directly to purchasers for cash or Cuyana credit. Pre-loved items can also be donated to H.E.A.R.T., a charity Cuyana has long supported that helps women rebuild their lives after escaping domestic abuse. Cuyana’s resale program is supported by the brand’s commitments to produce as close to demand as possible, avoiding overproduction.T heir website notes that they “sell through 90% of the products (made), which is high for the industry average sell-through rate of just 60-70%.” Resale, in theory, can contribute to a more circular industry while allowing business to still generate profits if it is matched with clear commitments from the brand to reduce environmental impact. However, fast fashion’s newest resale platforms lean more towards greenwashing than to circularity.