Resale, Rental and Repair: the 3 Rs that are changing fashion

The fashion system produces tons of waste every year along the entire supply chain, making it one of the most polluting industries on the planet. 

Waste, in fact, is generated from the design phase to the end of each product's life cycle, and then goes to landfills and incinerators. Added to this is the post-consumer textile waste originated each year worldwide. Of the total 39 million tons, only 10% is recycled, while 8% is reused as second-hand clothing. Unfortunately, 57% is sent to landfills.

The problem of end-of-life management of textile products will become very relevant from 2025, because from that date Italian municipalities will be obliged to separate collection of clothing in fulfillment of Directive 851/2018 (Circular Economy Package), which stipulates the obligation for manufacturers and distributors to manage and finance the recovery and recycling system of products placed on the market. If France is the only country in Europe that has already applied it to the clothing sector, in Italy, this process will be far from simple, as the administrative and industrial system does not seem to be able to manage significant volumes of waste at the moment, also due to the lack of adequate technologies, subjects and treatment processes.

So, one possible solution to overcome the waste problem is to try to make garments last as long as possible: buying them second-hand, renting them or repairing the ones we already have in our closets. With this in mind, more and more brands around the world have embraced resale, rental and repair models. 

The future of fashion: Resale

According to a growing trend, it really seems that the future of fashion will be second-hand. Second-hand clothes are now coveted not only for issues of price, quality and uniqueness of the garments, but especially for the sustainability of the purchase. Consumer concerns in terms of the circular economy are contributing to the success of this $30-40 billion market, which today is already seeing an 8 percent increase in repeat buyers compared to 2018. According to the report "LuxCo2030: A Vision of Sustainable Luxury," published by Bain & Company in collaboration with Positive Luxury, in 2030 successful brands could see a second hand market share of as much as 20 percent of sales, with a 40 percent increase in single product profit margin.

We are talking about a type of market that is, therefore, a major bet for brands that have the opportunity to capture a new consumer segment and that, according to a recent survey conducted by the Boston Consulting Group, will boom in the next five years with an annual growth rate of between 15 percent and 20 percent. 

Investing in the global second-hand market is also proving to be a winning move for some luxury giants, such as French multinational Kering, which in March 2021 acquired a 5 percent stake in Vestiaire Collective, a leading platform for high-end second-hand.

The Future of Fashion: Rental

The global online fashion rental market is growing and will reach $1.9 billion by 2023, according to a study conducted by Espresso Communication. It is a phenomenon that started in America but is spreading to the old continent as well.

Several U.S. retailers have added rental service to their core sales business. Banana Republic, for example, has launched Style Passport, an online subscription service that offers rental clothes with unlimited access to its womenswear collection. Urban Outfitters Group's Nuuly, which allows users to receive items from a variety of women's fashion brands, including those it owns, also works on a monthly subscription basis.

In Europe, on the other hand, the Dutch maternity and children's clothing brand Circos allows about 10 families to reuse and enjoy the same high-quality garments, extending the life of the products. Once a garment wears out, the fabric is reused to create new products. 

Italian start-up YouKoala, dedicated to reusing baby clothes, has also based its project on promoting responsible consumption and a culture of recycling. 

It is a subscription service that allows people to have quality clothes for their babies at an affordable price and without waste. YouKoala's solution is to send a kit of bodysuits, bibs, onesies, and caps designed to fit the baby, based on the age and season in which he or she receives it. When the clothes become tight, YouKoala delivers a new kit in a more suitable size to the home at the same time it picks up the previous kit. Returned garments are then sterilized, verified, and sent to another family, creating a circle of reuse of clothing that would otherwise be used very little and immediately archived. 

The future of fashion: Repair services

One company that has always been internationally recognized for its environmental activism is California-based Patagonia, which specializes in sports and outdoor clothing. The eco-sustainable philosophy behind Patagonia is to make its garments last as long as possible, to buy less and avoid waste. From this concept, the Worn Wear program was born in 2013, precisely to encourage people to take care of their clothes, through proper maintenance and any necessary repairs. With the Worn Wear Tour initiative, traveling in a caravan through the mountains of France, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Italy, the company offers skiers and snowboarders each year free repairs of snow gear and lessons on how to fix it on their own, thus reducing the impact on the environment.

Also worth mentioning among the brands offering repair services is Nudie Jeans Co, the Swedish denim apparel company, which takes a sustainable approach to the entire life cycle of jeans: production, use, repair. At the time of purchase, the company guarantees consumers a free repair at dedicated service centers, ensuring the garment will last longer.

The limitations and challenges of the Resale, Rental and Repair business models

Although the idea of using rental and resale services may be a viable solution for companies in terms of sustainability, some critics believe that in certain cases the role of the sharing economy is counterproductive. In fact, making products more affordable only encourages inordinate consumption. One survey found that for a large proportion of consumers, second-hand clothing is not so much a model of conscious shopping as it is an opportunity to buy clothes they could not otherwise afford. 

One reality that is currently aiming for true circularity in fashion and the economy is Greenchic, the first second hand clothing marketplace in Italy. In order to discourage the purchase of new garments, remuneration is not monetary, but rather takes place in virtual coins called stars, intended exclusively for second-hand.

As for the fashion rental model, the main obstacle would lie precisely in offering the latest fashionable garments to satisfy consumers' need to change their closets often and to be among the first to try the very latest products from their favorite brands.  In this regard, one wonders about the fate to which items go at the end of the season: are they discarded (thwarting efforts to protect the planet) or do they remain available indefinitely to be rented?

In conclusion, the world of fashion is inevitably changing, and the consumer formulas that companies can adopt are diverse, but they need to be well reasoned and studied ad hoc. Cikis proposes a range of solutions and strategies to keep up with the times and implement a circular business model that is sustainable from not only an economic but also an environmental and social perspective.