Box Layout

HTML Layout
Backgroud Images
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
Backgroud Pattern
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
  • greenforest

Big brands start selling second-hand clothes: does this reduce their environmental impact?

This week, H&M-owned fashion company Cos announced that it will help customers sell and buy their branded products they no longer use, with a new online platform to launch in the UK and Germany, Resell.

It is, according to the company, a step towards the circular economy model in which products extend their life to the maximum. "Resell reinforces its ambition and path to become a completely circular and renewable model," the brand announces in a statement. However, when we ask some specialists in sustainable fashion, they assure that this will only be possible if there is also a real project to reduce the environmental impact in the manufacture of garments and reduce the consumption of garments.

"Any platform that supports the second-hand sale of its products as a sustainable proposition needs to ask itself what volume of new products it is launching versus re-selling. If the amount of second-hand clothing is insignificant compared to what each year, we will have to think that the industry is simply taking over the conversation about circularity," explains Ayesha Barenblat, founder of the sustainable fashion solutions group Remake, from California.

Actually, Cos's proposal is not totally new. Companies like the outdoor clothing chain Patagonia, or the American department store Macy's, also help their users to sell used products.

The perception of second-hand clothing is not the same as it was a while ago for the consumer. According to the latest report published in June by Thred Up, one of the first companies to appear on the Internet in this type of market, consumers, especially the younger ones, feel that it is something positive to acquire products that have less environmental impact, while each They are less proud when choosing products such as fast food or throwaway fashion.

Las grandes marcas empiezan a vender ropa de segunda mano: ¿reduce esto su impacto ambiental?

The question is whether buying and selling second-hand clothing is enough to reduce its environmental impact and, above all, whether it is compatible with a model of cheap, low-quality clothing on which companies like H&M base their business.

"Clothing that isn't made to be durable and washable doesn't have much value on the resale market," explains Barenblat. "In addition, its materials must also be valued. If the garments include a mixture of polymers, they release large amounts of microplastics into the oceans. A large part of the impact of fashion begins in the design phase. Therefore, if the clothing does not it is long-lasting and of good quality, selling it second-hand is simply an image-washing operation rather than a real effort to achieve a more sustainable model”.

Gema Gómez, founder of Slow Fashion Next, also considers that selling second-hand clothing, although it has great value, is not a formula that by itself can create a less aggressive environmental model.

"Selling second-hand clothes is a transitional measure," she explains. "It is a good resource, since we have a lot of clothes that we do not wear in our closets and we have to give them an outlet. But any sustainability solution for the future implies that we take into account that the planet has limits."

For this expert, the world of fashion is confusing the concept of the circular economy with the recycling economy, whose sole purpose is to recycle as much as possible, without taking into account the materials with which the clothes are made, the impact of chemicals or the amount of garments that are generated. "Second-hand clothing can be a good system to cover that automatic pilot that we have of wanting continuous change, but we have to accept that resources are not infinite," she comments when analyzing what these advances mean. "For there to be a real change, the materials with which the garments are produced should be taken into account, considering their carbon cycles, their hydrological cycles or their impact on ecosystems and biodiversity."

Dieuwertje de Wagenaar, from Wageningen University's Circular Fashion Lab project, also understands that multiple steps would be necessary to significantly reduce the impact of fashion today. "More circular alternatives should be encouraged, such as natural or recycled materials, since those that are used now, such as polyester, are cheaper, and put obstacles to a circular option," he analyzes from the Netherlands. "It would also be necessary to improve the techniques to recycle garments, so that all raw materials (even those that are made up of mixtures, very common today) can be used. And, finally, we would need a change in attitude towards consumption and ownership. We should question our consumerism, especially considering the little use that some of these garments are given, and ask ourselves about other options such as renting clothes."

For the founder of Remake, in the end we have to face what we have in front of us but nobody wants to recognize: the urgent need to reduce production. "We produce and dispose of clothing overwhelmingly in the midst of a climate crisis. So any program that encourages clothing to stay in circulation longer is a positive move. However, if we just stick to selling second-hand clothing hand we will hardly improve the exploitation of resources, both planetary and human, that fashion is doing at an accelerated pace".

  • Tags:
  • what is the clothing brand with a whale

Related Articles

'The ambassador's daughter': everything about the premiere of the Nova series

A girl named Melek arrives in her living room and finds a dead man. Her mother, in the bathroom, cleans the blood from her clothes and her face, in addition, she keeps a knife along with the rest of the things in ...

Criticism rains down on Balenciaga for a diver with holes that sells for more than 1,000 euros

Exclusive ContentThe article you are trying to access is exclusively for subscribersSubscribe Find out about our plans and enjoy El País without limits.Enter If you are already a subscriber you can enter with...

 Mexico wins 6 medals in the Mathematics Olympiad When and where to watch the Mexico vs.  Gold Cup Honduras Celta will create three new schools in Mexico

This Friday we have information about the Mexican champions in Mathematics, Roberto Palazuelos' clothing brand, Celta's new soccer schools and more.Mexico wins 6 medals at the Olim...

 Bicycle Derailleur Adjustment |  Causes and solutions for a maladjusted change

Adjusting the bicycle derailleur can be something very simple if we know what we are doing, or it can become a real headache for not knowing how to find the key or, why not, because...