‘Fast Fashion Has No Value,’ Says Vestiaire Collective
Vestiaire Collective is banning fast fashion brands from its marketplace starting Friday.
The fast fashion ban effort, per Vestiaire Collective, counters Black Friday promotional deals and is meant to position the reseller as progressive in anti-consumption culture.
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“Fast fashion has no value, and even less in resale,” stated Vestiaire Collective’s chief impact officer, Dounia Wone. “We’ve taken this step because we don’t want to be complicit in this industry which has a tremendous environmental and social impact. The current system encourages overproduction and overconsumption of low-quality items and generates huge amounts of fashion waste.”
The full list of soon-to-be banned brands includes Asos, Atmosphere, Boohoo, Burton, Cider, Coast, Dorothy Perkins, Fashion Nova, Karen Millen, Miss Selfridge, Missguided, Na-Kd, Nasty Gal, Oasis, Pretty Little Thing, Shein, Tezenis, Topman, Topshop (and collaborations) and Warehouse.
Some brands, like Shein, have already launched their own resale services.
The B Corp Vestiaire isn’t shy when it comes to unique marketing. In March, after its purchase of Tradesy, the reseller introduced its ”Collective” of puppets in a campaign meant to celebrate resale and set it apart from competitors.
While the news appears progressive, it may toe the line of greenwashing at present as the ban does not currently include Spanish fast fashion retailer Zara, which currently spans 105 pages of listings, or more than 5,000 goods, on Vestiaire Collective’s U.S. website. (The brands that were banned, in comparison, generate meager if any search results, showing perhaps an already light assortment to begin with or pre-removal from site). Vestiaire Collective affirmed it will be banning all fast fashion in waves though the company did not give firm estimations or timelines.
Resellers are increasingly taking positions with the products they allow on their sites when it comes to environmental and social issues. Earlier this fall, both The RealReal and Rebag took to banning product. In this case, it was a Yeezy ban in response to criticisms over Ye’s (the celebrity formerly known as Kanye West) inflammatory (and in some cases antisemitic) comments.
