As social media explodes with hashtags like #sheinhaul, we’ve proposed an alternative style challenge in the form of #NoNewClothes. This 90-day campaign asks challenge-takers to refrain from buying first-hand in an effort to pause and reflect on one’s own consumption habits. Those participating in the challenge can turn to secondhand purchases to get their fashion fix with clothing companies that have ventured into the resale market. To sweeten the experience of the #NoNewClothes challenge, we’ve rounded up six small brands offering resale, recycling, and rental programs.
With just about 8 billion people inhabiting the Earth, the fashion industry relentlessly churns out 100 billion garments annually––almost 13 new items per person. At the same time, we wear less than half of our clothes, resulting in 60% of these 100 billion garments ending up in a landfill within a year. Inevitably, looking at the shocking statistics of our lavish consumption underlines the importance of resale models. Not only can resale brands (and brands offering resale programs) prevent the production of new garments, but they can also contribute to saving perfectly wearable clothes from going to waste in landfills. While it is worth noting that circular initiatives can only drive major change in the fashion industry if they replace linear models of production (ultimately lowering the output of new products), resale programs are a valuable first step in making the market shift from new products to pre-loved products.
In a positive forecast, according to ThredUp’s resale report, 10% of the global apparel market is expected to be made up of secondhand apparel by 2024 with the resale market continuing to grow three times faster than fashion as a whole. If brands were to produce one item less for every second-hand purchase, we would see an 8% decrease in new product output — that’s no small feat!
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Amour Vert
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Translating to “Green Love” in French, Amour Vert epitomizes what it means to put the planet first. Founded by partners Linda Balti and Christoph Frehsee in 2009, the label was built from a desire to create eco-conscious clothing that appealed to Balti’s own Parisian fashion style, hoping it would attract customers with its style-first approach. While the style might have convinced shoppers in the first place, sustainability is no shortcoming: Amour Vert takes into account the whole production of garments from sustainable fiber sourcing, fair working conditions, and using high-quality, long-lasting materials.
After working with sustainable materials such as Tencel, cupro, linen, or vegan silk, Amour Vert decided to venture into the resale market in 2021 with its in-house circular platform ReAmour. Here, customers can buy and sell their pre-worn Amour Vert garments to keep them in the loop as long as possible. Recently, the platform was acknowledged as one of fashion’s top resale programs by the Trove Brand Resale Index.
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Another Tomorrow
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Worn by the likes of Courtney Cox and Margot Robbie, Another Tomorrow emphasizes how style and sustainability create a symbiosis rather than a contradiction. Since its foundation in 2018, the climate-neutral B-corporation creates timeless, durable garments from high-quality materials. The brand appeals to curious, compassionate global citizens seeking elevated, thoughtful design, education, and tools for advocacy. Founder Vanessa Barboni Hallik claims to be guided by a value system based on the three pillars of environmental, human, and animal welfare. With a strong policy against overproduction and overdevelopment, Another Tomorrow minimizes waste throughout all design stages and recycles what can’t be saved.
In addition to using conscious, high-quality recycled cashmere, European linen, ethical wool, and certified Viscose, Another Tomorrow also launched its in-house authenticated resale program. Sellers can simply scan the QR code on their garment’s label and are provided with all the necessary information to resell the piece, comforted by the fact that each garment has a unique digital identity at Another Tomorrow. After official authentication by Another Tomorrow, sellers can choose between store credit or cash in exchange for their pre-worn items.
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House of Baukjen
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House of Baukjen was founded in London back in 2003 and has been a pioneer in the consumer waste conversation. The label includes both the womenswear label Baukjen and the maternity wear label Isabella Oliver, both striving to become fully circular by taking care not to overproduce, and implementing take-back programs. The brand works with a myriad of recycled or regenerated fibers from pre- or post-consumer waste such as Ecotec cotton, Eco cashmere, and Ecojilin Viscose among other innovative fibers. Ultimately, Baukjen is on its way to producing 35% of its clothes with regenerated fibers by 2025.
What qualifies Baukjen to be in our round-up of brands with circular programs is both its rental platform as well as its pre-loved collection. Not only are these initiatives a way to consume high-quality sustainable fashion affordably, but it’s also responsible for reducing the amount of clothing going to landfill each year––one of Baukjen’s biggest goals. All these endeavors made them win the prestigious UN Global Climate Action Award in 2021, awarded to those that focus on innovative, scalable, and replicable blueprints of how brands can combat climate change.
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Hanna Andersson
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Hanna Andersson is a Portland-based childrenswear label founded back in 1983 on the Scandinavian ethos of combining form and function. In a commitment to protect vulnerable children’s bodies from the toxic chemicals contained in many conventional fabrics, the brand uses harm-free, non-toxic materials derived from fair trade practices such as Danish Green Cotton or materials applying to OEKO-TEX Standard 100, its strictest standard. All of the label’s outerwear is created using recycled water bottles.
Given the fast growth of Hanna Andersson’s little wearers, the brand initiated its in-house resale platform “Hanna-me-downs” in an effort of keeping its high-quality children’s garments in the loop as long as possible. Hanna Andersson embodies the prioritization of quality and durability of materials to reap the benefits throughout a garment’s lifecycle.
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Outerknown
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Since the professional surfer Kelly Slater founded Outerknown, the brand has always been inspired by surf culture and emphasizes comfort and practicality. Now, it works towards the goal of becoming fully circular by 2030. Hoping to act as a circular innovation catalyst for the industry, the swimwear and clothing label recycles its offcuts and designs a large portion of its products from regenerative or recycled materials, activating ways to keep items in circulation longer.
On top of limiting the use of water and chemicals during production, steadily increasing their percentage of preferred fibers (e.g. organic cotton, hemp, recycled cotton, etc.), and working with a considerable amount of renewable energies in their supply chains, Outerknown also launched Outerworn, its own resale platform. Here, customers can exchange their pre-worn Outerknown items directly on the company’s website.
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Tentree
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The Canadian brand Tentree puts social and environmental sustainability at the forefront of its business: The label sources a myriad of natural and biodegradable materials and invests in Nature-based Solutions like agroforestry to help regenerate the land where they’re sourcing. The 100 million+ trees planted through the sale of women’s, men’s, and children’s clothes are merely a part of the brand’s larger scheme of regenerating ecosystems and capturing carbon. Aside from Tentree’s reforestation program, the brand works with a plethora of low-impact materials such as organic cotton, hemp, and Tencel Lyocell for which they hold several independent certifications, including but not limited to the Global Recycled Standard (GRS), OEKO-TEX Standard, and Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS).
What’s more, Tentree introduced its own take-back program called “Circularity by Tentree” where collected garments will either be recycled through recycling partner SuperCircle or resold through the partnering consignment store Treet. Different from other circular programs, it is worth noting that customers don’t get paid for sending in the brand’s pre-loved items, but are eligible to collect store credit for future Tentree purchases.
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