Green Consumers Push Demand for Recycled and Re-sale Clothing

Concerns about the environment are spurring changes in style choices, shopping habits and all aspects of clothing manufacturing. Designers and retailers are responding, sometimes in very innovative ways. Green requirements for clothing are expected to be in place in the EU by 2024, calling for single-fiber clothing which is easier to recycle than clothing that contains a mixture of fibers, say, a pair of jeans that is 98% cotton and 2% spandex. Less than 1% of the world’s clothing is currently recycled into new garments. This is exacerbated by inexpensive fast fashion which consumers wear and shortly discard in favor of newer styles. The proposed EU legislation would affect textile producers, clothing manufacturers and retailers not only in the 27 member states, but also in other countries.

SPOTLIGHT: On Holding AG’s Running Shoes Sold by Subscription and Eventually the Material is Recycled

Swiss performance sportswear brand On (www.on-running.com) was founded in 2010 and currently has a presence in more than 60 countries. Starting in 2022, On launched the Cloudneo running shoe on a subscription basis. Runners pay $29.99 per month for a never-ending supply if they agree to ship worn-out pairs back to the company for recycling of the materials. The process affords the company’s ability to lock in raw materials supplies for new shoes, thereby reducing waste. The company ultimately hopes to have 90% of its shoes returned for recycling.

Aware of the pending requirements, some companies have already implemented single-fiber clothing initiatives. Adidas, for example, offers its “Made to be Remade” brand of single-fiber shoes, tops, pants and coats. On the other hand, fast fashion brand H&M says that single-fiber fabrics are used in only about 33% of its total line due to durability issues.

H&M and several other clothing companies are pushing clothing repair and resale services as an alternative to recycling. By mid-2023, H&M, Uniqlo and Zara all offered repair services for their own brands of clothing in most of their larger markets. Resale of apparel through retail stores and specialty websites is a practice long associated with upper-end or even couture clothing. This practice has gained in popularity in recent years, since it gives consumers a chance to purchase, say a lightly used dress that originally retailed for $1,500 for $500 or so. Bain & Co. reported that used luxury sales were up 65% in 2021 compared to 2017. The consulting firm projects that secondhand couture sales will grow at a rate of approximately 15% between 2022 and 2027. Resale of serviceable clothing, whether high end or moderately priced, clearly is a sustainability practice as well, representing an easy type of recycling.

A large number of luxury retailers believe that resale may cannibalize their current collections or drive prices of new clothing, shoes and accessories down. However, Burberry Group, Stella McCartney and Kering have begun experimenting with their own resale operations, even to the extent of offering to buy back merchandise from customers. Luxury companies also route their used items to online high-end resale sites such as Vestaire Collective (www.vestairecollective.com) or The RealReal, Inc. (www.therealreal.com) to receive a cut of any sales.

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