How many times have you said, "I have nothing to wear," as you stood in frustration staring at that stack of clothes?
Today's shopping has never been simpler. Simply getting online exposes you to an onslaught of tailored adverts and emails urging you to buy immediately or risk missing out. When you step outside, the previous week's collection has already been updated. You can't resist seeing an army of influencers flaunting the latest Insta-trends when you check your phone.
To encourage a culture that discards what is no longer in style, the fashion industry creates clothes that no one wants to keep.
It's an incredibly wasteful industry. According to the New Textile Economy research from 2017, fewer than 1% of the clothes recovered for reuse will be used to manufacture new garments. In fact, output has doubled in the previous 15 years, despite a 40% decrease in the amount of time people spend wearing clothes.
These trends are not only wreaking havoc on the environment, but they are also limiting the fashion industry's long-term viability. Clothing that is worn less and barely recycled is already costing the business USD 500 billion.
Demands have changed.
There has never been a more important time to take action than right now. People are marching to the streets to demand "climate justice," stating that "beautiful clothes should not come at the expense of the environment," and calling the fashion industry to become "a driver of cultural change." We are in the midst of a period in which more and more people want their purchases to represent their ideals. The pressure is mounting on world leaders and policymakers, and they are beginning to respond. One of several high-profile instances is the United Nations' recently created global alliance, which aims to fight fashion's largest environmental and social concerns.
Changing client needs may have the greatest impact on fashion businesses and stores, and those who do not adjust quickly enough risk being left behind. Customers who are concerned about social and environmental issues are now looking for fashion that is both sustainable and ethical. Young clients want unlimited access to new fashions, while others want tradable platforms where they can find luxury and vintage clothing. Those who are less swayed by such trends are looking for superior quality clothing that will last.
The industry must adapt to meet the needs of these expanding client categories. Members of the fashion value chain must "self-disrupt their own identity and the roots of their own success to realise innovations that win new generations of customers," according to a 2019 research by McKinsey & Company.
Circularizing fashion
A circular economy provides opportunity for the fashion sector to respond to changing customer expectations while also providing new opportunities for growth. To do so, the fashion industry will need to undergo a fundamental transformation, moving away from a take-make-waste strategy and toward a reuse-based model. To realise this potential, the industry would have to take the following steps:
Create new business concepts that encourage people to reuse their clothes.
Safe and renewable inputs should be used.
Create solutions that allow old garments to be repurposed into new ones.
'Making fashion circular' is already assisting businesses in responding to today's most common client expectations while also rotating valuable resources and minimising waste and pollution.
There are no limits to the styles you can create, and there is no waste.
The number of companies that offer resale, rental, and subscription models has continuously increased as young people move their tastes away from the desire to own everything they wear and toward the need to simply access infinite fresh fashions. These businesses have risen to the top of the list of the fastest-growing retail categories. In fact, by 2028, the secondhand market is anticipated to increase 1.5 times faster than fast fashion. A third of all Instagram users are already purchasing things through the platform, and the subscription e-commerce business is increasing at a rate of more than 100% per year.
In the fast fashion resale and rental sector, major businesses such as ThredUP in the United States and YCloset in China are leading the way. ThredUP has grown to become the world's largest second-hand clothing marketplace, with customers able to sell their own items on the site. Every day, over 100,000 items from 35,000 brands are resold, and they plan to be one of the leading apparel wholesalers in North America by 2020. When it comes to rental models, YCloset has taken China by storm, with 5 million users presently paying a monthly. One piece of contemporary, durable apparel may be worn by up to 40 different people, according to the manufacturer.
There are also some smaller disruptive businesses that are taking additional steps to encourage clothing recirculation and recycling. Vigga has a subscription business that sends out packages of professionally laundered organic cotton baby garments at regular intervals to keep up with the rapid growing of babies. Vigga dramatically increases the number of times a single garment is worn in this manner. No longer used clothes can be recycled into new, different goods.
A new model for excellence and luxury that is affordable.
The rise in popularity of resale, rental, and subscription models isn't just due to a need for novelty. Customers seeking luxury and vintage things contribute to this trend as well. These are valuable items that can appreciate in value over time and are frequently viewed as marketable assets with a high resale potential. Leather backpacks, crossbody purses, winter jackets, and leather boots have the highest resale value these days.
Certain garments and accessories, when created properly, survive longer, can be mended, and have a higher resale value. Unsplash photo by Nik MacMillan
These new activities are supported by a shift in people's values toward experiences over things. According to Kantar Worldwide MONITOR research, 90 percent of global customers place a higher value on desirable experiences than material goods. As a result, rental and resale models provide a cost-effective means to access highly desired luxury and antique experiences. Rent The Runway and The RealReal, two of the world's most disruptive startups in 2018, were among the first to tap into these shifting customer behaviours on a large scale. While Rent The Runway offers a monthly membership model with access to designer clothing, The RealReal provides a platform for selling luxury consignment online as well as an authentication and restoration service to its members. Each has over 9 million users and collectively generates over $500 million in revenue.
It will be critical to scale these business models in order to keep more clothing in use for longer. But, while reducing waste, how can we extend the life of luxury and vintage garments?
Levi Strauss has pledged to use a variety of measures to alleviate the industry's wastefulness. After purchasing a pair of pre-worn Levi's Authorized Vintage jeans, you can have them mended, resized, or restyled at the in-house tailors in Levi's stores in San Francisco and New York. You can give them a fresh lease on life by personalising them if you've fallen out of love with them. You can return items to Levi's for renewal, reconstruction, or recycling when you no longer want them. Furthermore, by 2025, if you want to buy a new pair of Levi's, you'll be able to find them made entirely of recycled cotton.
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2 years, 5 months ago
