CONCLUSION

In summary, instead of focusing on the question is resale the answer to a sustainable future? I have found that from my research, resale is obviously not the sole answer. Therefore, I will instead focus on how resale is shaping a sustainable future. To begin with, I think that resale will continue to play a major part of fashion in the future, but the question is, what will it look like? As mentioned previously, will it revolve around more cost effective solutions to pre-loved clothing? Like Don’t Shop Swap, or will resale continue as it is currently? Of course, with the cost of living, it would be easy to say that it would revolve around more cost effective solutions. However, it doesn’t seem like that will happen as resale is expected to grow 127% by 2026, three times faster than the wider retail clothing industry, according to a new report from ThredUp. The younger generation remains the most open towards pre-loved fashion, with 62% of Gen Z and millennials saying they look for a second hand item before buying a new one. The report also found that 58% of consumers say second hand shopping has helped them in some way amid rising inflation. (Cameron, 2022). To support the argument of whether resale will revolve around more cost effective solutions, I personally don’t think it will as it is expected to be a prominent market in the future which consumers will more than likely buy into as a replacement of fast fashion. Cost of living has pushed the resale market forwards, it has given it the boost it needed, which in turn is the reason why it’s expected to grow to exponential heights.

Thrifting and charity shopping have been favourites for a while, but we’ve now moved onto not buying clothes at all. Enter renting and swapping. Renting clothes involves paying a reduced fee to borrow a piece for a stated amount of time. Swapping involves donating some of your clothes in return for someone else’s. Renting and swapping highlight that it isn’t always necessary to own more clothes, but borrowing or trading clothes will more than suffice. It comes from the fact that overconsumption is rife and therefore renting or swapping encourages more conscious consumerism. (Morgan, 2021). If renting and swapping is the solution, that will of course solve the most important problem which is overconsumption. This is a good thing seen as there have been arguments stating that second hand resale is following in the footsteps of fast fashion through mindless consumption. However, on the other hand, this removes resale from the equation as both rentals and swapping involve little cost. “Vinted — a resale app — offers the potential for swapping as an alternative to selling but it doesn’t seem to be frequently used, which is a shame.” (Morgan, 2021). Consumers use Vinted similar to how they use Depop in the sense that they use it as a potential business venture to earn money. Unfortunately, we live in a world of excess which leaves everyone wanting more, and so, swapping clothes rather than selling for a profit seems unlikely. Although, I think clothes swapping and rentals will continue for consumers who are on lower incomes, but I don’t think it will dominate the future of resale. Growing up in the 21st century means that people are accustomed to overconsumption, which means that it would be difficult to convince consumers to consume less, especially with social media encouraging mass consumption. Linking back to my FMP as it is relevant to the points I am making. I have been researching overconsumption with second hand, and I recently looked into made to order as an approach to combat overconsumption, but with a bit of a twist, as resale is centred around clothes that already exist. If resellers sourced their stock based on what the customer wants, they wouldn’t be left with heaps of stock. As a reseller myself, I am aware of how much stock I source and I am sometimes left with stock that doesn’t sell, so this could be a potential solution to how resale could lead a more sustainable path in the future.

Resale enables consumers to shop locally, as well as supporting independent sellers rather than giant fast fashion chains. And on top of that, it gives items of clothing a second life, avoiding being dumped in some awful landfield. It’s a win-win situation really. (Eleuterio, 2021). To conclude the points I have covered, I do a see future for resale and I think it will continue to thrive into the future and through the younger generations. In terms of what it will look like with sustainability in mind, obviously I can’t predict what it will look like, but based off of my research and what I think, I would say that clothes swapping and rentals will become more popular through shifts in consumer behaviour – consumers choosing to be more sustainable and being careful with how they spend their money, as a result of the cost of living crisis, consumers will realize that they don’t need to buy new or that they don’t need to buy a new wardrobe every time they’ve worn an outfit. All in all, I think the driving force will be a shift in consumer mindset as a result of the cost of living and as a result of the pandemic. Not just for swapping and rentals, but for thrifting and reselling too.