{"id":3745,"date":"2023-01-19T17:03:21","date_gmt":"2023-01-19T16:03:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.lineapelle-fair.it\/?p=3745"},"modified":"2025-05-27T16:50:52","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T14:50:52","slug":"things-to-say-about-vestiaire-collectives-war-on-fast-fashion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.lineapelle-fair.it\/en\/focus-en\/things-to-say-about-vestiaire-collectives-war-on-fast-fashion\/","title":{"rendered":"Things to say about Vestiaire Collective’s war on fast fashion"},"content":{"rendered":"

The platform specialising in second-hand has decided to ban several brands for “not being complicit with those who have a huge impact on the environment”. But Vestiaire Collective’s war is causing debate, as many consider it “counterproductive”. Certainly, this decision has one merit: it has opened the discussion on how to manage the burden of fast fashion<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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In October 2022, some Vestiaire Collective employees <\/strong>went to the Kantamanto market in Accra<\/strong>, the capital of Ghana<\/strong>. They wanted to see for themselves and understand what goes on in West Africa’s largest second-hand clothing market<\/strong>. One of the largest in the world. About 15 million pieces of second-hand clothing <\/strong>arrive here every week in the <\/strong>form of bales <\/strong>called Obroni Wawu <\/strong>or Dead White Man’s Clothes<\/strong>. From this journey comes a series of discoveries, facts, and considerations: obligatory, in some ways; necessary, above all.<\/p>\n

Vestiaire Collective’s war on fast fashion<\/strong><\/h3>\n

“Forty percent of unpacked clothing is not resold and becomes waste<\/strong>. This trip highlighted the importance of taking\u00a0immediate and radical action on fast fashion,<\/strong>” says the well-known luxury resale platform. A month later, it started to ban fast fashion brands from its business. The decision was presented as\u00a0a sustainability operation\u00a0<\/strong>to crack down on waste but raised\u00a0several questions about its effectiveness<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Vestiaire Collective removed\u00a0Boohoo<\/strong>,\u00a0Pretty Little Thing<\/strong>,\u00a0Asos, <\/strong>and\u00a0Shein products<\/strong>, which accounted for about 5% of the offering. However, other fast fashion brands, such as\u00a0H&M\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Zara<\/strong>, have not yet been banned. Together with an external agency, the Paris-based portal is drawing up\u00a0a three-year plan to establish the criteria that brands must meet for their products to be allowed on the site<\/strong>. Those who do not respect them will no longer be hosted on its virtual shelves.<\/p>\n

No complicity<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Dounia Wone<\/strong>, the retailer’s Sustainability Manager, said: “We do not want to be complicit in this industry<\/strong><\/a> (fast fashion, ed.<\/em>), which has a huge environmental and social impact”. Vestiaire Collective, which also has French luxury conglomerate Kering among its investors, said that this decision is not the same as washing its hands <\/strong>of what is happening at Kantamanto<\/a>. It will work to find solutions <\/strong>such as ‘wear, repair, recycle, regenerate and donate constructively’.<\/p>\n

But is it a helpful war?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Not everyone approves and claps their hands at Vestiaire Collective’s decision. So much so that someone says that this decision is even counterproductive<\/strong>. Like Justine Porterie<\/strong>, Green Manager of British second-hand e-tailer. ‘Banning fast fashion,’ she says, ‘would go against our mission as a credible alternative to buying new clothes<\/strong>‘. While a spokesperson for Vinted <\/strong>(another resale platform) sums up Vogue: ‘Excluding fast fashion does not stop people from buying it’.<\/p>\n

Brett Staniland<\/strong>, a sustainable fashion creator who has worked with Vestiaire Collective in the past, argues that ‘by banning fast fashion, consumers are being directed to the second-hand platforms of fast fashion brands, with the possibility of returning money to companies we don’t want to support<\/strong>‘. The reference is to the fact that Pretty Little Thing, Shein, and Zara have already launched their own second-hand platforms. The debate is open. At least Vestiaire Collective’s decision to ban fast fashion served this purpose. (mv)<\/p>\n

The photo was taken from deadwhitemansclothes.org<\/em><\/p>\n

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