H&M Used and Vintage clothing is not a fashion backward but its to put the customers dream for a more sustainable fashion industry into action. This company will test the sale of used clothing and vintage to capitalize on the growing concerns of consumers about the negative costs and effects that the environment must receive from the effects of fast fashion.
Anna Gedda who is the head of the ongoing division of H & M told Reuters that H&M will launch a pilot project in Sweden for online sales of used clothing on its brand site “& Other Stories” which has a mission to enlarge market share and other brands for long-term plans.
“It goes back to a whole circular vision that only makes sense to look into this business,” she said on the sidelines of an event in Berlin about the future of fashion, especially in sustainable fashion. This Swedish retail company sees this sustainable fashion is a growing part of the industry, with great opportunities both for consumers and at least for environmental impacts, and how we can drastically reduce it by extending the life of products from these garments. ”
H&M Used And Vintage Clothing Is a Way to Increase Environmental Awareness
Awareness of the damage caused by the rapid growth of the fast fashion sector, exemplified by brand like Zara and Primark who sell clothes so that consumers with less money can afford to buy and wear it for only one night, and this habit has grown especially over the past year.
The BBC documentary “The Dirty Secrets of the World of Fashion” last year described fashion as one of the most polluting industries in the world, even according to one survey it was the number two industry that polluted the world.
So far there have been a number of signs about the decline in demand for fast fashion because public awareness has begun to increase, but the second-hand market is expected to double in the next five years to $ 51 billion. This is according to data collected for ThredUp, an online thrift shop which is a resale market for exclusive products, it has contributed to this growth.
Green Mission by Launching H&M Used and Vintage Clothing Platform
H & M has tried selling used clothing in the past but ignored the project. Used clothing and Vintage are normally only available for sale run by customers like ASOS and eBay, which are online marketplaces for used goods. “Now is a very different moment with awareness of sustainability,” Gedda said.
H & M is conducting a trial with a platform that sells used goods from Sweden, namely Sellpy, a new company, and H & M is one of its investors. They are making “pre-loved” clothes on the “& Other Stories” site.
H & M, the world’s largest clothing retailer after owner Zara Inditex, has seen profits shrink and stockpiles accumulate in recent years because it failed to react fast enough to demand change and a boom in e-commerce. However, they reported a much smaller decline than expected in quarterly profits, because they had sold more products at full prices and restrained margins.
H & M has been trying to increase trust in its environmental concerns in recent years by using more organic cotton and encouraging customers to recycle their clothing and offering repair services for damaged clothing in several countries.
When customers seek further transparency about the supply chain, Gedda said it not only launched a website that sells H&M used and vintage clothing but also carried out other sustainability steps. One way is to launch a system that will allow buyers to be able to directly see which factories that produce each garment and more details about the fabric.
