During the Corona crisis, even more consumers took advantage of the opportunity to buy used clothing. Zalando, H&M and About You have long since discovered the market for themselves.
Those who are attentively strolling through the C&A branch in Hamburg-Altona, the Karstadt department store on Berlin’s Hermannplatz or the Breuninger fashion store in Karlsruhe can make a surprising discovery these days.
In addition to the clothes racks and shelves with brand new collections, used textiles are also sold. The second-hand wave has also reached department stores.
In mid-June, C&A created space in its branch in Hamburg-Altona for a pop-up store for Carou, an online provider of second-hand clothing founded in 2015. The cooperation is part of C & A’s efforts to achieve more sustainability and is “very well received” by customers, emphasized a C&A spokeswoman. In France, the fashion retailer is also testing oC & Az, a platform for selling used C&A items between private individuals.
But C&A is not alone. The Stuttgart fashion retailer Breuninger, which operates in the upper market segment with its branches between Freiburg and Düsseldorf, has been offering used textiles in some of its shops in pop-up stores for some time. “We think it’s a very exciting topic because it hits the zeitgeist,” it says there.
Breuninger relies on a collaboration with the second-hand specialist Vite EnVogue, who specializes in the resale of used items from premium brands such as Chanel, Prada or Gucci. Before they are resold, the products are checked and plagiarism is sorted out. The expansion of the range is obviously well received by customers. Because in the meantime, Breuninger is thinking about introducing the offer permanently in some branches. Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof has also created space for a “re-use store” on the third floor of its Berlin branch on Hermannplatz.
The boom in used textiles is not really a miracle. Because in the Corona crisis, topics such as sustainability and environmental protection got an additional boost. “The trend for second-hand clothing is attracting ever larger circles and has the potential to unite a market share of 20 percent in the next ten years,” says the study “Fashion 2030 – See what will be fashion tomorrow” by the management consultancy KPMG and the Cologne trade research institute EHI. According to the study, a good third of consumers in Germany (34 percent) already buy used clothing. Another 28 percent can imagine.
Second-hand fashion is in vogue. So far, however, used goods have mainly been bought on the Internet. The Momox online shop – according to its own information, the re-commerce market leader in Europe – increased its sales of second-hand fashion in Germany by 46 percent last year. According to a report by the trade journal “Textile Industry”, competitor girls’ flea market is even expecting an increase of 80 percent this year.
The big online fashion retailers such as Zalando, Otto and H&M have long since discovered the business for themselves. Zalando sells used items in its online shop under the title “Pre-Owned”. The range currently includes over 130,000 items. In view of Zalando’s plans to become “the first point of contact for fashion”, “pre-owned” (used) is a logical addition to the rest of the range, said the internet retailer when it entered the used textiles business.
Otto subsidiary About You sells the textiles it has worn under the melodious label “Second Love”. The fast fashion giant H + M is taking a slightly different route. He has secured the majority in the Swedish second-hand online platform Sellpy. Since last year there has also been a German-speaking branch. He advertises used clothing with the slogan: “The best way to reduce emissions is to make better use of existing clothing and things.”
Even the luxury fashion giant Kering, whose fashion empire includes brands such as Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta and Brioni, has now discovered the second-hand business for itself. In the spring he took a five percent stake in the resale platform Vestiaire Collective, which specializes in designer fashion. “Second-hand luxury is a real and deeply rooted trend today, especially among younger customers,” said Kering boss Francois-Henri Pinault, explaining the move. Nice side effect: The luxury company has the chance to slowly attract potential customers, for example among students, who – yet – cannot afford the exorbitant prices for the new goods.
There shouldn’t be a shortage of supplies for all the second-hand offers for the time being. According to a study by the Wuppertal Institute in cooperation with Ebay Classifieds, the vast majority of consumers in Germany have unused products lying around at home. After all, 57 percent of those surveyed said they owned clothes, shoes and accessories that they had not worn for at least twelve months.
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
