Why Resale Needs to Be Part of Your 2022 Sustainability Strategy

As always, the new year brings a fresh opportunity to reflect on the past while setting goals for the year ahead. As the retail industry evolves toward a more sustainable future — largely driven by environmental concerns and consumer demand — resale has become a natural (and necessary) next step for brands. And if it’s not on your team’s radar just yet, in 2022, it will be! Resale is truly a win-win-win for customers, brands, and the planet.

Brands Are Leaning into Circularity as a Solution

It’s clear that our current linear production model is broken, and new approaches are needed to rebuild a more sustainable system. According to the Fashion on Climate report, “The fashion industry accounts for around 4% of emissions globally, equivalent to the combined annual GHG emissions of France, Germany and the United Kingdom.” Other reports attribute as much as 10% of global GHGs!

Thankfully, we’re seeing an industry-wide movement toward making products in a more responsible way — by incorporating preferred fibers and ensuring fair labor, for example. But more recently, the conversation has shifted toward circularity, with a greater emphasis on end-of-life solutions and services that brands can (and should) provide to make sure their products last as long as possible. Because “every second, the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned,” according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

Resale is proving to be an effective way to keep products not just out of landfill but in circulation and at their highest value for longer.

With Recurate’s Resale Model, Circularity is Simple

We set out to redesign resale by improving the experience for customers while making it easy for brands to meaningfully participate in the circular economy. As the resale market continues to grow and outpace traditional retail, we want our brand partners to leverage resale as both a sustainability initiative and a revenue driver. What’s good for business can be good for the planet too!

Plus, it’s what consumers expect. “More than three in five consumers in a recent McKinsey survey said environmental impact is an important factor in making purchasing decisions,” and “as consumers become more engaged with sustainability issues, circularity will be the key that unlocks the door to a more sustainable future,” according to The State of Fashion 2021 report.

Brand Partner Spotlight: Welcome to Outerworn

Recurate’s brand partner, Outerknown, was founded in 2015 on a mission to make products with the highest regard for people and planet. They recently announced a plan to go fully circular by 2030, a commitment they’ve outlined in detail and published on their website. In addition to piloting circular innovations and continuing to champion fair labor, launching their resale platform, Outerworn, was a critical step on their journey toward circularity.

In a recent blog post, Outerknown shared, “By making a conscious effort to buy better quality, pre-worn pieces, we can all significantly reduce waste and help eliminate excessive consumption. After all, the most sustainable clothes are the ones that already exist!”

Introducing: Steve Madden’s Re-Booted

Just this week Recurate launched Steve Madden’s new branded peer-to-peer marketplace, Re-Booted. Steve Madden’s entry into resale, further demonstrates that brands of all sizes, price-points and categories are recognizing the power of resale as a circularity driver.

Gregg Meyer, chief sustainability officer at Steven Madden Ltd., told Footwear News that their embracing of resale is “in an effort to make the items we create last as long as possible and further ‘galvanize the industry.’”

“Steve Madden and Dolce Vita are thrilled to enter the resale market with Recurate as our partner. It’s no secret that millions of tons of clothing and shoes are incinerated or sent to landfills each year, and changing this will require changing the ways that we think about creating and buying fashion.”

We couldn’t agree more.

We’re thrilled to be able to help Steve Madden, Outerknown and our other 20+ brand partners reach their sustainability goals in 2022 and beyond.

If you’re considering resale as a way to make your brand more circular, visit www.recurate.com to learn more!