The rise of circular fashion

Ciao everyone and happy Valentine’s Day.

Today’s deep dive essay was written by Karina Chan, a NYC-based growth consultant for emerging designers and fashion startup founders, product manager at Capital One, and host of Changing Room Thoughts: a podcast for anyone who has ever had a critical thought about the clothes they put on their body.

The Stanza’s Deep Dive essays are available to Insider subscribers. As a Valentine’s Day gift, here’s 20% off an annual subscription. As a reminder, the Weekly Digest sent every Friday is a free publication.

Were you forwarded this email? Subscribe by clicking here.

Within the past decade, the fashionable set of mankind has evolved. Eons from simply “hanging out at the mall”, today’s trendsetting types have made a clear shift towards “grabbing an iced coffee and hitting the thrift.” A mad online dash for a pair of scuffed Galliano-era Dior dice mules, often older than the attentive crew of archive sleuths themselves, now surprises no one. Beyond the anecdotes and TikTok thrift hauls, solid growth metrics reflect the rise in circular fashion. In 2022 the resale market grew 5x as much as the broader retail clothing sector according to a report published by ThredUp and GlobalData.

What drives such aggressive growth in resale fashion? Perhaps it’s the looming threat of climate doom that discourages consumers from participating in a supply chain they know is devastating both the environment and exploited laborers. The half-way recession we’re currently in could be driving folks towards budget-friendly vintage prices. Or the treasure-hunt for a totally unique and rare piece no one else has, buried deep in the annals of fashion, offers a satisfaction money can’t buy? Regardless of the reason, one thing is for sure: the paradigm shift from buying most of your clothes new to buying most of your clothes second hand opens up new commerce challenges and therefore opportunities to solve them. While TheRealReal, Vestiare, ThredUp, and other resale marketplaces are tackling circular fashion in one way, the market as a whole is still a wide, blue ocean. What is in the future of circular fashion? What problems still need to be solved?

Subscribe to The Stanza Insiders Club to read the rest.