‘Second-hand Boom’
2021 was a pivotal era in humanity. There was a global pandemic, the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan, Ethiopia’s civil war worsened, Joe Biden became president of the United States of America, COVID-19 vaccines became available, and countries failed the climate change challenge, bringing a ‘code red for humanity’, (CFR, 2021).
Cop-26 saw countries pledge to take steps to address climate change, with cutting methane and carbon emissions at the forefront. However, just ‘pledges’ aren’t enough, we need action, and it needs to happen now!
Fashion makes a sizeable contribution to climate change. Research carried out by McKinsey (2018) showed that the fashion industry was responsible for 2.1 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions in 2018, which is approximately 4% of the global total. To put that into perspective, the fashion industry emits the same quantity per year as “the entire economies of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom combined,” (McKinsey, 2020).
Recent trends following the cop-26 conference in Glasgow, has been to buy retail from second-hand shops to simply slow down production and reduce carbon emissions. According to Mintel (2021), 66% of all British consumers have bought or are interested in buying second-hand fashion items. With the idea of thrifting, consumers perspectives are shifting in line with the climate crisis continuing to gain headlines.
With this emergence, there has now been a growth in users on second-hand selling platforms such as Depop, Vinted, and eBay. Thredup quoted that 118 million users have tried reselling for the first time in 2021, compared to 36.2 million first-time sellers in 2020, (Harper’s Bazaar, 2021). Consumers must prefer the ease of the online tools rather than going into second-hand stores which is contributing to the sudden growth. And of course, instead of donating clothes to charity, you can make money back on unwanted items, putting money in the consumers’ pockets.
Other reasons which suggest why there’s been a significant rise in second-hand retailing could be because sustainable clothing has a higher price tag. The millennials and gen z’s are more adamant than ever to be sustainable, but this is hard to tackle when sustainable clothing does cost considerably more. Much of this market could be students, in a lot of financial debt, with other priorities to spend their money on such as rent and food – we’ve all been there!
So, instead thrifting is the next affordable, and sustainable answer that these generations can do to help. Plus, thrifting can be fashionable. Have you ever found something designer or something you adore for next to nothing? Something that’s back in fashion from the 90s that you must have. Second-hand shops have you covered! Here are some influencers who have styled items that they’ve bought second-hand and made it fashion!
Second-hand shopping isn’t second rate, and it is certainly sustainable, so do your bit!
References
Council on Foreign Relations. 2021. Ten Most Significant World Events in 2021. [online] Available at: <https://www.cfr.org/blog/ten-most-significant-world-events-2021> [Accessed 3 January 2022].
Fashionista. 2019. How I Shop: Karen Blanchard, Also Known as @KarenBritChick. [online] Available at: <https://fashionista.com/2019/03/karen-blanchard-karenbritchick-fashion-style> [Accessed 3 January 2022].
Fashionsteelenyc.com. 2019. [online] Available at: <http://fashionsteelenyc.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/2D6A9450-1440×2160.jpg> [Accessed 3 January 2022].
McKinsey. 2020. Fashion on Climate. [online] Available at: <https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/fashion-on-climate#> [Accessed 3 January 2022].
Mintel Store. 2021. UK Fashion and Sustainability Market Report 2021 | Mintel.com. [online] Available at: <https://store.mintel.com/report/uk-fashion-sustainability-market-report> [Accessed 3 January 2022].
Statista. 2021. Second-hand purchases by category in the UK 2021 | Statista. [online] Available at: <https://www.statista.com/forecasts/997906/second-hand-purchases-by-category-in-the-uk> [Accessed 3 January 2022].