How These Brands Support ‘Secondhand September’
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Second Hand September is here, according to re-commerce solutions provider Archive.
The firm, which powers the backend logistics for resale businesses owned by brands like Diane Von Furstenberg (DVF), Ulla Johnson and M.M.LaFleur, has reprised its fall campaign to promote the secondhand market this month. Launched in 2019, the month-long shopping holiday was designed to raise consumer awareness about the impact of new purchases, and challenge shoppers to buy only pre-owned items for 30 days.
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“Since September marks both New York Fashion Week and back-to-school, most fashion brands focus on newness during the month,” Archive CEO and co-founder Emily Gittins said. “That makes September the perfect time for forward-thinking brands to establish a new narrative by spotlighting their resale offerings.”
Archive’s brand partners have created their specialized campaigns to entice consumers to participate in the re-commerce movement. DVF is featuring a selection of secondhand products, usually available only online, at Meatpacking flagship store, for example. The women’s wear label debuted ReWrap, the resale platform it named after its iconic wrap dress, in May.
Ulla Johnson is bringing the resale experience to physical retail stores on both coasts. The premium lifestyle brand has curated racks of pre-owned pieces from the inventory generated through its PreLoved resale program. They’re available for sale at its stores in New York City and West Hollywood.
Women’s capsule-dressing brand M.M.LaFleur and handcrafted footwear brand Sarah Flint are offering special listing promotions that encourage consumers to sell their pre-owned products on their respective resale microsites. Sarah Flint will also showcase a selection of secondhand shoes in-store.
“We’re thrilled to join so many of our brand partners in supporting the Second Hand September campaign to encourage customers to buy preloved and highlight the wide variety of ways people can enjoy shopping secondhand today,” Gittins said.
Other brand partners, including Faherty, ba&sh, Paris-based Sandro, Western fashion brand Ariat, children’s apparel retailer Hanna Andersson and handbag line Hobo will participate in Secondhand September by posting resale shopping tips, launching activations and posting special social media content using the hashtag #SecondHandSeptember. Marimekko, which marked its first year as an Archive retail partner in late August, hosted an in-store secondhand shopping event.
The growth of resale has been well-documented in recent seasons, with brands across the board looking to participate in the craze by starting their own pre-owned sales channels. Archive said its re-commerce technology and logistics platform, which facilitates peer-to-peer sales, product take-back, repairs, recycling, and vintage supply management, has nearly doubled its brand partner count in 2023, onboarding 18 new clients this year for a total of more than 40.
The company is also broadening its global reach, having expanded to the U.K. market this year. The two-year-old provider currently powers resale programs for brands and retailers in seven countries, and has doubled its headcount over the past 12 months to support the growth. This included hiring Stripe and Yelp veteran Toby Waite as vice president of engineering.
Online re-commerce marketplace ThredUp, which amassed over $300 million in funding to launch its Resale as a Service (RaaS) business in 2019, has seen that investment pay dividends as retailers embrace re-commerce. Last year, the platform, which powers secondhand sales microsites and take-back programs, grew its client list by 50 percent, to 42 brands. Tommy Hilfiger, Hot Topic, plus-size label Torrid, and American Eagle bought into the RaaS model last year, joining brands like J.Crew, Athleta, Cos, Madewell, Gap, Pacsun, Cuyana and Reformation. In March, the company predicted its full-year revenue would rise by up to 11 percent in 2023, to between $310 million and $320 million.
ThredUp’s annual resale report indicated that 88 brands entered the re-commerce space in 2022 across the industry at large, a 244-percent increase from the year prior that took the total number from 36 to 124. Online is resale’s fastest growing channel, and it’s projected to grow by an average of 21 percent annually to reach $38 billion by 2027 in the U.S. alone.
ThredUp estimates that the global secondary market will double within the same time frame, reaching $350 billion.
