VESTIAIRE COLLECTIVE GOES VIRAL FOR FAST FASHION BAN
By: Hillary LeBlanc
As organizations continue to try to make changes in the fashion world, fast fashion continues to be a beast that won’t die as consumerism has not slowed. WIth the encouragement of ‘haul’ content, brands like Zara, H&M and Shien are perfect for these mass shopping videos and content because of their low prices. One brand, Vestiaire Collective, is taking a stand against fast fashion and has gone viral for it.
Vestiaire Collective is an online luxury reselling website, comparable to The Real Real or a high-end Poshmark and De-Pop. People who have made luxury purchases can resell their goods for up to 85% of the value returned to them and shoppers can find authenticated luxury without buying new. Vestiaire Collective shares that the reason behind their work is to build a more sustainable fashion future. They feel overconsumption, overproduction and climate change are all detrimental to the planet and hope their platform will help offset some of the damage consumerism and luxury sales do to the planet.
Not only is Vestiaire Collective the first B Corp certified fashion resale platform, they recently went viral for banning ultra fast fashion on their website. As Vestiaire Collective already has 90% less emissions than buying new, they looked to see how else they could positively impact the planet. Vestiaire Collective reports that over the past 15 years clothing production has doubled despite us using 40% less garments. Three out of five garments will end up in a landfill. Furthermore 15 million garments end up at the Kantamanto market in Ghana. These facts have led Vestiaire Collective to go a step further and partner with The Or Foundation to look at the human rights and environmental abuses occurring due to this market in Ghana and others like it.
Some of the fast fashion brands banned from Vestiaire Collective include Abercrombie & Fitch, H&M, GAP, Zara, Mango, Uniqlo, Urban Outfitters, Asos, Boohoo, Pretty Little Thing, Shien, Benetton and more. Vestiaire Collective defines an ultra fast fashion brand as a brand that creates garments at a low price point, has an intense renewal rate for new garments, has a wide product range, often a lot of sales and their speed to the market is rapid. What makes this ba so controversial is that it is the first of it’s kind to actually limit ultra fast fashion on a platform.
Vestiaire Collective has nine industry and sustainability committee members that gave their opinion and expertise on the fast fashion market. The members include Orsola de Castro, Co-founder of Fashion Revolution and author, Rachel Cernansky, Senior Sustainability Editor at Vogue Business, Christina Dean, Founder and Board Chair of NGO Redress and Founder and Chief Operating Officer of The R Collective, Eva Kruse, Chief Global Engagement Officer Pangaia, Founder of the Global Fashion Agenda, Liz Ricketts, Co-founder and Director of The Or Foundation, Lauren Singer, Managing Partner, Overview Capital, François Souchet, Global Head of Sustainability and Impact Consulting at BPCM, Former lead "Make Fashion Circular" at Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Lucianne Tonti, Fashion journalist and author and Matteo Ward, Co-founder of Wrad living, activist, UN/CEFACT advisor.
Dounia Wone, Chief Impact Officer, Vestiaire Collective shared that, "The decision to ban fast fashion was made to support Vestiaire Collective's long time work to promote alternatives to the dominant model of fashion. Fast fashion brands contribute to excessive production and consumption, resulting in devastating social and environmental consequences in the Global South. It is our duty to act and lead the way for other industry players to join us in this movement, and together we can have an impact".
Created in 2009, Vestiaire Collective now has over 30,000 items added each week allowing buyers to peruse 3,500 garments a day. French luxury group Kering has also backed Vestiaire Collective with a 178 Million pounds investment after Vestiaire Collective saw 22% growth in 2022. Moreover, as this ultra fast fashion ban has slowly come into affect and is part of a three year plan, 70% of those affected by the ultra fast fashion ban on Vestiaire Collective have come back and shopped for better quality garment proving the need for this type of ban.
With partners such as Alexander McQueen, Chloé, Gucci, Mulberry, Paco Rabanne, Courrèges, Mytheresa, Giglio and Luisaviaroma it would appear luxury fashion is in support of Vestiaire Collective’s controversial ban and welcoming their slow fashion mindset. Vestiaire Collective’s founder Fanny Moizant also shops with a One In, One Out policy and challenges Vestiaire Collective shoppers to do the same. Can you?