Vestiaire Collective, one of the leading apps in fashion retailing worldwide, has published Impact Report, a report on the impact of fashion on the environment in collaboration with PwC. According to the survey, buying on the platform reduces the environmental impact by 90% compared to a new item. The monetized calculation of environmental impact, an innovative and relatively new technique for the fashion industry, makes it possible to measure different environmental factors in the same way. The environmental cost calculated for each second-hand purchase on Vestiaire Collective is 0.39 euros, only one-tenth of the environmental cost of a new purchase. In terms of emissions, each item purchased on Vestiaire Collective saves 17 kg of CO2 compared to a new one, which is the equivalent of the emissions produced by an average car per 100 km traveled. “It is extremely encouraging to see the influence that high-end fashion retail platforms such as Vestiaire Collective can have in promoting the circular economy,” said Fanny Moizant, co-founder and president of Vestiaire Collective. We hope our work will inspire both companies and consumers to adopt a ‘less but better’ approach, further reducing the environmental impact of the fashion industry ”. A key element of the Vestiaire Collective model is to encourage consumers to move away from fast fashion produced by highly influential companies. While the resale industry has been seen by some as yet another symptom of overconsumption, Vestiaire Collective wants to show that its model, centered on community engagement, offers an effective alternative to society’s addiction to fast fashion. To create the Impact Report, Vestiaire Collective interviewed 2,363 consumers in 57 countries. The results reveal that 70% of shoppers say shopping on Vestiaire Collective avoided buying a garment first-hand (a figure 17% higher than in previous studies on resale platforms). The report also found that Vestiaire Collective, by focusing on high-end items, encourages consumers to invest in higher quality purchases that can be resold better because they are made to last. This ‘upscale’ effect leads to fewer new purchases as consumers take a ‘less but better’ approach. In fact, research has shown that very few consumers (only 10%) use the profits from their second-hand sales to pay for new purchases. The role of resale platforms is critical in driving this change in buying behavior: 50% of the sellers on Vestiaire Collective say they would not have resold items without the platform. “Vestiaire Collective’s business model is truly unique – underlines Dounia Wone, Vestiaire Collective’s chief sustainability and inclusion officer – and the role of the Sustainability & Inclusion team is to provide solid data to support this claim. We want to keep challenging and improving ourselves, pushing the fashion industry towards a faster transition. We are aware that resale still has the potential to contribute to the culture of overconsumption. Therefore it is important for us to work with our community to promote a move away from fast fashion, to make sure we can have the greatest impact possible. ” It is widely known that fashion is one of the most polluting industries in the world. It is estimated that 120 billion new clothing and footwear are purchased annually. Fashion resale companies are helping to counter this phenomenon, and they are growing exponentially: their market share is expected to double from 9% to 18% between 2022 and 2030. If this growth continues, by 2030 the number of items resold will save the planet 38 billion euros in environmental costs. As logistics still plays a key role in both first-hand and second-hand sales, Vestiaire Collective is committed to achieving net climate benefit by 2025, without relying on compensation measures. The publication of Vestiaire Collective’s Impact Report is not only proof that its business model is having a tangible impact, but also of its commitment to constantly improve. In fact, the company wants to become the first in the industry to publish a comprehensive socio-economic and environmental account, continuing to demonstrate the extent of positive changes possible in the fashion industry.