In 2022 alone, there were 150 billion new garments produced to clothe a world of only 8 billion. 90% of that ends up in landfills. No question, the fashion industry is hurtling toward a reckoning. Here at Trove, we intend to learn, unlearn, and relearn so we can inspire our peers, the industry, and our youth that as a collectively conscious body, we can achieve growth without growing our emissions.
Let’s Talk Resale is a foundational series that considers the emerging landscape of resale also known as recommerce. We follow Andy Ruben - Founder and Executive Chair of Trove - as he dives deep into the trends shaping the circular economy.
Each episode’s theme will address key issues that brands face when adopting a recommerce platform. We’ll interrogate the nuances of sustainability and discuss the implications of recommerce for brand control. You’ll hear key anecdotes from brands with resale models that are already thriving, such as REI, in addition to a bottom-up approach, where we interview several members of Gen Z, and gain insight into the future consumer.
To capture the fast-paced weekly news in the resale industry, we have an episode every Tuesday, The Resale Edit, that highlights the key trends and takeaways for brands and their teams which is hosted by Trove's Head of Content, Samantha Dersarkissian. Subscribe to the accompanying newsletter here.
This series is a tour de force that will educate, inspire, and offer insight into Trove’s product and vision. While targeted to thought leaders and luxury executives, all listeners will gain a robust understanding of the state of recommerce. Along the way, you'll come to face the inevitable choice fashion brands must make to stay relevant in the 21st century.
Looking for more resale content? Check out www.trove.com
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In 2022 alone, there were 150 billion new garments produced to clothe a world of only 8 billion. 90% of that ends up in landfills. No question, the fashion industry is hurtling toward a reckoning. Here at Trove, we intend to learn, unlearn, and relearn so we can inspire our peers, the industry, and our youth that as a collectively conscious body, we can achieve growth without growing our emissions.
Let’s Talk Resale is a foundational series that considers the emerging landscape of resale also known as recommerce. We follow Andy Ruben - Founder and Executive Chair of Trove - as he dives deep into the trends shaping the circular economy.
Each episode’s theme will address key issues that brands face when adopting a recommerce platform. We’ll interrogate the nuances of sustainability and discuss the implications of recommerce for brand control. You’ll hear key anecdotes from brands with resale models that are already thriving, such as REI, in addition to a bottom-up approach, where we interview several members of Gen Z, and gain insight into the future consumer.
To capture the fast-paced weekly news in the resale industry, we have an episode every Tuesday, The Resale Edit, that highlights the key trends and takeaways for brands and their teams which is hosted by Trove's Head of Content, Samantha Dersarkissian. Subscribe to the accompanying newsletter here.
This series is a tour de force that will educate, inspire, and offer insight into Trove’s product and vision. While targeted to thought leaders and luxury executives, all listeners will gain a robust understanding of the state of recommerce. Along the way, you'll come to face the inevitable choice fashion brands must make to stay relevant in the 21st century.
Looking for more resale content? Check out www.trove.com
The Resale Edit: We can’t expect business model change from brands that don’t make money on resale
Let's Talk Resale
7 minutes
2 years ago
The Resale Edit: We can’t expect business model change from brands that don’t make money on resale
There are high expectations for resale as pointed out by The Guardian. Next-generation customers will seek out pre-owned items that will allow the fashion industry to automatically transform a 100+ year-old linear model into a circular model. This will not happen in a straight path, nor will it happen overnight. Today, we live in the wild west, where it’s hard to distinguish the positive forward momentum from the PR plays.
The Fast Company article, ‘We buy too many clothes. Can fashion’s secondhand boom change that?’ really brings this point home. The piece starts by asking the question, despite all the resale news, “why the boom in resale isn’t putting a dent in new clothing sales.” This would be like asking, despite all the eCommerce websites in 2002, why hasn’t commerce changed? eCommerce has changed commerce, and resale will change new clothing production, but business model change on this scale takes time.
What is more relevant is how brands are approaching the change. Fast Company spoke with Patagonia’s @Asha Agrawal and Madewell’s @Liz Hershfield. Agrawal points out that Patagonia must ensure that its resale platform makes money because this will allow the company to reduce the number of new products it produces while remaining a thriving business. “[Worn Wear is] already a profitable business for us. So now, it’s just about scaling this business proposition, which will allow us to cut back on our net new production.”
In contrast, Fast Company points out that most resale platforms don’t generate revenue for brands, including ThredUp and Recurate, which helped launch resale sites for Mara Hoffman, Steve Madden, and Outerknown. Madewell’s Hershfield states, “We weren’t looking at profitability, but we want to break even financially. We do this to ensure we’re meeting our sustainability goals.”
Madewell’s Forever (their resale partnership with ThredUP) is indeed good in many ways, including keeping items in use and driving customer expectations for resale. But because Madewell doesn’t have a business model to make money on selling pre-owned items, Madewell isn’t set up to shift its business away from a linear model. This and many other brand resale programs work in a philanthropy model rather than a business model change.
The importance of a profitable business model extends beyond sustainability as more brand items are sold everywhere. EXPRESS Pre Loved, powered by LXR, quietly added 150+ luxury products to its online storefront, including Gucci, Chanel, and Louis Vuitton. EXPRESS makes it easy for their customers to shop across new and pre-owned as part of their marketplace program, including shared cart, which only 25% of brands offer today. All of this works for EXPRESS but not for the brands they now sell. The obvious risk here is that brands who never choose to sell to EXPRESS have zero control on how their items are priced, merchandise, or authenticated.
Chloe made news this week by announcing it would digitally label all pieces by 2025, starting with a 20-piece capsule collection this year. As WWD reports, this part isn’t new news, as many brands do this today across their full range of products. This is an essential strategy for the authenticity and future value of their products.
What was more interesting, was the splashy headlines such as Vogues,
Let's Talk Resale
In 2022 alone, there were 150 billion new garments produced to clothe a world of only 8 billion. 90% of that ends up in landfills. No question, the fashion industry is hurtling toward a reckoning. Here at Trove, we intend to learn, unlearn, and relearn so we can inspire our peers, the industry, and our youth that as a collectively conscious body, we can achieve growth without growing our emissions.
Let’s Talk Resale is a foundational series that considers the emerging landscape of resale also known as recommerce. We follow Andy Ruben - Founder and Executive Chair of Trove - as he dives deep into the trends shaping the circular economy.
Each episode’s theme will address key issues that brands face when adopting a recommerce platform. We’ll interrogate the nuances of sustainability and discuss the implications of recommerce for brand control. You’ll hear key anecdotes from brands with resale models that are already thriving, such as REI, in addition to a bottom-up approach, where we interview several members of Gen Z, and gain insight into the future consumer.
To capture the fast-paced weekly news in the resale industry, we have an episode every Tuesday, The Resale Edit, that highlights the key trends and takeaways for brands and their teams which is hosted by Trove's Head of Content, Samantha Dersarkissian. Subscribe to the accompanying newsletter here.
This series is a tour de force that will educate, inspire, and offer insight into Trove’s product and vision. While targeted to thought leaders and luxury executives, all listeners will gain a robust understanding of the state of recommerce. Along the way, you'll come to face the inevitable choice fashion brands must make to stay relevant in the 21st century.
Looking for more resale content? Check out www.trove.com
