Reseller Website Vestiaire Collective Bans Fast Fashion on their Website
At the end of November, the reseller website Vestiaire Collective announced that they will no longer be selling fast fashion brands or retailers on their website. Vestiaire’s chief impact officer, Dounia Wone, stated, “Fast fashion has no value and even less in resale. We’ve taken this step because we don’t want to be complicit in this industry which has a tremendous environmental and social impact,” she said. “The current system encourages overproduction and overconsumption of low quality items and generates a huge amount of waste.” Last year, Vestiaire became the first fashion reseller website to become B corp certified so this plan is a part of their increased effort for sustainability and transparency for its consumers.
Courtesy of Vestiaire Collective
As of this week, Vestiaire has been evaluating which brands meet their fast fashion criteria (i.e. poor working conditions, increased pollution) and taking them off the website. So far, the brands that they have taken off are: ASOS, Boohoo, Fashion Nova, Topman, Topshop (and all of their collaborations), Nasty Gal, Miss Selfridge, Pretty Little Thing, Cider, Dorothy Perkins, Atmosphere, Karen Millen, Na-kd, Oasis, Tezenis, Shein Warehouse and Missguided. More brands will be added as they evaluate more products on their website. This announcement is a part of Vestiaire’s three year plan to promote “circular fashion economy” and sustainability on their website. The brand will continue this plan by partnering with a third party agency to produce a criteria list for products being sold on their website to promote and push the reselling of more sustainable brands.
Corutesy of Vestiaire Collective
The fashion industry is one of the major players in pollution and global warming. It is an industry that promotes quantity over quality and the overconsumption and overproduction of products that do not last. Additionally, fast fashion companies often hire companies overseas to produce their products so they can get a lot of garments made at the lowest cost possible. These companies produce so many garments that their factories end up producing a lot of waste. For instance, clothing dyes ending up in rivers or people throwing away the garments once they are out of style.
Courtesy of Forbes
This waste affects third world countries the most because that is where the majority of fast fashion factories reside. This pollution brings unsafe chemicals and sicknesses to overseas communities surrounding clothing factories. The people living near these factories cannot afford to live in another place or get proper medical services for potential illnesses. They receive little to no help from fast fashion companies or their governments for medical or moving services so they are left to endure it.
Courtesy of Fashion United
Vestiaire Collective’s new move to ban fast fashion on their website came at the right time. Consumers are beginning to notice the effects that clothing has on the planet. With the rise in sustainability and climate change movements, it is no surprise that brands are beginning to re-evaluate how they make and sell their clothing. Shoppers want to be more conscious consumers and want more transparency and sustainable practices from the brands that they shop with. Consumers want to know that their money is going to a good place that will not be harmful to the planet. With this new mindset from consumers, the fashion industry will have to reevaluate their current practices and strive for sustainable and transparent operations for their garments.
