In the dynamic world of retail, two seasoned experts, Glynn Davis and Matthew Valentine, go head-to-head each month. This month, they spar over second-hand market!
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The trade in second hand goods is nothing new. Charity shops have long been a fixture of UK high streets, and ‘junk shops’ and flea markets were commonplace long before that. Those old enough will remember the pre-internet local ad papers, where people advertised all manner of goods they no longer wanted, and we are now spoilt for choice when it comes to online marketplaces.
But extending the life of used products has now gone far beyond being a way for thrifty consumers to make a few quid, or save a few when buying. As we move further into an environmental calamity of our own making, the repair and resale of goods is taking on a new level of importance – both for the planet and for the brands that sell the products in the first place.
Calls for a circular economy, which sees products used and reused for as long as possible before being repaired, or recycled, are growing. Achieving these aims could involve a change in lifestyle and consumption – for example, by encouraging people to rent items that they use only occasionally, such as large DIY tools, rather than buying them and leaving them unused in a shed. Appliances such as washing machines should be easier to repair, rather than simply being replaced when they break.
Brands and retailers have recognised all of these factors, and are stepping up their game plans. For example, Ikea announced its peer-to-peer Ikea Marketplace just this week, a trial that will help customers to sell unwanted furniture items to one another. Ikea suggest that it will eventually take a ‘humble fee’ for the service.
Nowhere is waste more apparent than in the fashion sector. Nearly-disposable fast fashion, with its associated international production, shipping, home delivery and returns, is an environmentalist’s nightmare.
Marks & Spencer, the classic UK clothing brand, has partnered with clothing repairs and alterations service SOJO to emphasise how the life of its products can be extended. John Lewis is hosting a pop-up by The Little Loop, a circular brand that rents out and resells children’s clothes.
These processes depend on quality – and on price. Fast fashion items are invariably too fragile to last long enough to be cleaned and resold but, even if they do survive, they cannot justify a resale price that covers the cost.
In the long run companies will have to adapt more than consumers, if over-consumption is to be cut and more re-use is to take place. ‘De-growth’ is the scary phrase that describes the concept of selling less stuff, but still running a viable company.
That means that brands need to become more involved in the process or extending the afterlife of the products they make and sell. No longer can they sit back and watch the items being resold on eBay, Vinted or Depop. As much as they can, brands need to be involved in the process.
From ensuring that goods are of high enough quality to maintain their use and appeal, to offering buy-back prices so that they can control the life cycle of the products that bear their name, brands need to reshape their attitude to what they make and when they make their money.
The future of the planet may depend on it and, as consumers increasingly expect a greater degree of circularity, the future of the companies may depend on it too.
There is no way I could comfortably argue against the concept of selling second-hand goods, especially within the clothing category, when we are in the midst of a sustainability crisis and the fashion industry produces as much as 10% of global CO2 emissions.
What I do feel confident about highlighting though is the identity crisis that second-hand clothing currently suffers. We all know exactly what second-hand means and it does unfortunately have negative connotations for many people – particularly within the older demographic. Slightly worn-out, ill-fitting, hand-me-downs, and fusty-smelling are among the images that come into the minds of far too many people when they think of second-hand clothing.
It is therefore not surprising that various alternative names have emerged in recent years, as the circular economy has begun to gain traction, each looking to give second-hand a bit of a polish. The idea being about making it much more palatable, whereby it is attractive enough to tempt greater numbers of people to get involved. Among the monikers bandied around are pre-loved, pre-owned, re-worn and vintage. These sit alongside sub-categories including reworked, repaired, repurposed and also embellished.
Stuart Trevor, who founded All Saints and recently created the sustainable brand Stuart Trevor, sources second-hand clothing and puts his own unique twist on them before selling them on at premium prices. He suggests you can almost place ‘re’ in front of any word and it would be applicable as a new name for second-hand clothing. He has a strapline of ‘rewind, reset and replay’ on the labels of his range of reimagined clothing.
With so many names around it is undoubtedly a confusing situation. I personally am unsure of the definition of vintage for instance. Does it simply mean bog-standard second-hand clothes or does it infer a slightly superior product such as branded denim from a particular decade that can command a premium price. This conjures images of a period piece that has attained classic/cult status. Vintage does indeed convey something of a sheen onto second-hand but it would be good to know what it actually means.
What it also adds is a bit of cool to what has been a decidedly uncool part of the clothing landscape. This is something that various people including Stuart Trevor have been working hard towards eradicating. They include entrepreneur Wayne Hemingway (founder of Red or Dead), and Maria Chenoweth, CEO of sustainable charity Traid, who joined forces to create the first multi-charity pre-loved fashion department store, Super.Mkt, that continues to operate as a pop-up in a rolling programme of shopping centres.
They have taken second-hand clothing and placed it in cooler surroundings – sitting it close to well-known brands selling new products – than a regular charity shop and incorporated smart fittings into the store fit-out.
Clearly there are some very exciting things happening in the second-hand clothing market, which is great to see, but it would undoubtedly receive a further positive boost if the retail industry could potentially come together and agree some sort of a universal name that reflects these exciting times for pre-loved, pre-worn, reworked etc…
