The Dealey Group’s Post

It's clear: secondhand is the new hot trend in circular fashion! 🔥 After years of focusing on recycling, and waves of rental, care, and repair pilots, seems like the whole industry is bidding on secondhand! You don't need to be a circular economy expert to guess why. 🎶 It's (n̶o̶t̶) ALL about the money, money, money 💰💰 (please sing-read that) This September alone, we've seen: - Vinted partnering with Oxfam for the 'Style for Change' runway - eBay hosting its first pre-loved fashion week with the British Fashion Council - H&M launching 5 stores with curated secondhand selections across EU (on top of their ongoing focus to scaling Sellpy) - Peregrine Clothing has partnered up with resale platform Birl - After UK and EU, Inditex is expanding Zara secondhand in the US Awesome, right? Here's my take. I would be super excited about this momentum IF a few conditions came to life: 💫 Firstly, starting with revenue-generating initiatives like secondhand can help fund other circularity schemes that are harder to scale, like repairs. This could be a powerful first step in a long-term vision, but I wonder: is that the vision? 📈 Secondly, while brands worry about revenue cannibalization, it is, ironically, exactly the point. It means the scheme is working, and growth could be decoupled from resource use. But this fear is a clear signal that rather than aiming at reducing production, these schemes are considered just another revenue stream. 🪪 Lastly, with the Digital Product Passport becoming mandatory in EU, preowned schemes offer a great opportunity to implement the DPP. We talk about these tags for new items, but we need to add them to existing ones too to properly fuel a circular system. Is anyone working on a roadmap to do this? What secondhand schemes or partnerships have you noticed? What's your take on digital product passports for existing items? 🙏🏼 Major shout out to Lydia Brearley who summarizes weekly what's going on in the industry, meaning I can keep up to date and add my 🌶️ perspective #circulareconomy #circularinnovation #systemicinnovation 📷 credits to eBay

Serena Bonomi have listed some great objectives on Circular economy and I specially find REPAIR as the one I am cheering the most for. My comment was: Secondhand is a fantastic start, but I’m still rooting for repairs to become the real trendsetter. While secondhand shopping is easier for most people (myself included), repair is still perceived as too complicated. Whether it’s a question of skills, cost, or convenience, in my experience - people are hesitant and pass it on to second hand instead. But imagine if EU regulations made repair services mandatory for large companies! The Right to Repair legislation, along with the Ecodesign Regulation, is pushing us in that direction. By 2026, companies will have to make it easier for consumers to repair their clothes, not just replace them. I see it as way to unlock huge opportunities for partnerships to grow and create small businesses - Partnerships cross-sector - It have the potential to create comminities and become the new IT for circularity - 🚀 Circularity and Partnerships FTW. 👉 What is you perspective? How can you see your self as a private person or as a business, using or offering repair service?

This Wednesday, I will be alongside representatives from Boohoo Group PLC, H&M and Oxfam on a panel in front of the Environmental Audit Committee. We will be discussing "what the environmental impact of UK fashion is likely to look like in years to come, and what progress the industry has made towards sustainability". My aim will be to highlight... >>> 1 <<< How resale is already contributing to circularity at scale, powered by: ⚡ Over 10,000 high street charity shops ⚡ £bn+ peer-to-peer apps like Vinted, Depop & eBay ⚡ Rapidly growing managed marketplaces like Thrift+ Together, we are recirculating huge volumes of clothing for a second life here in the UK. >>> 2 <<< How pre-loved / second-hand has the incredible ability to compete directly with (ultra) fast fashion - on price, choice & speed. Recently, the Sustainability Director of a fast fashion retailer told me that "Vinted is now our biggest competitor". Now *THAT* is progress. *** To the other circular economy superheroes out there - what other important messages should I try to land with our MPs? ***

Mixed feelings here as I was very excited to see Zalando commit to upping their game in this space back in 2020 particularly the push for all third party brands they sell to disclose environmental and social supply chain information (you might question the 'how' here but the vision and ambition was great to see). There absolutely needs to be a crack down on false or misleading sustainability related claims it's gone unchecked for far too long. But... we also need to be mindful that if not done in the right way this could result (as it is starting to) in brands keeping silent or worse rowing back completely on what they are doing. In the grand scheme of things so few brands are talking about sustainability to customers on any level and more need to do so - we need to make it easier for customers to buy more sustainably. Many will want to - but it's down to us as brands to make it as easy as possible for them (even more so in this climate where frankly price will be more front of mind than ever). For many the internal hurdles to clear before sustainability is communicated have always been high (competing with lots of other marketing messages - promos, newness, innovation etc). Sustainability is complicated and getting more so - and the more rigorous the claim needs to be, the harder it is likely to be to communicate. So while a crack down on green claims is absolutely important and necessary (there's some shockers out there) - how about instead of just coming up with codes and principles that say what you can't do and calling out missteps, let's start focusing on what you can do and celebrating and calling out what good looks like. https://lnkd.in/g3jvhrny via @climate #sustainability #greenclaims #greenhushing #greenwashing

Target Corp. is giving consumers to chance to give their old items a new life and keep used denim out of landfills. Just in time for back-to-school shopping, the discounter will hold its first chain-wide denim “take back" event from Aug. 4-10. Consumers can bring up to five denim items — in any condition — to a Target store and drop them in the marked boxes for recycling. Materials from the denim will be recycled and repurposed by Target's partners. In exchange, consumers will receive a Target Circle promo code for a 20% discount off their entire denim apparel purchase, including Target-owned brands Universal Thread, Wild Fable, Goodfellow & Co, Cat & Jack, and national brands such as Levi's. Consumers who participate in the event and have the Target Circle Card can also save an extra 5% off their denim purchase, in addition to their 20% off Target Circle offer.

The European Commission reported that 53% of environmental claims they examined were misleading, unfounded, or vague. 53%!!!! Think Zara, Zalando, Levi Strauss & Co. and recently Lululemon- they've faced their fair share of accusations despite their sustainability efforts. As trendsetters in the fashion world, you know that trust is everything. If there's even a hint of doubt about your sustainability efforts, it's bad…. #Sustainability #GoGreen #EcoFriendly #ClimateAction #GreenBusiness #climateriskmanagement

As the fashion industry grapples with the imperative of #sustainability, it's crucial for brands to provide transparent and detailed information about their environmental initiatives. A recent report highlights how major brands like H&M and ZARA SA are using vague sustainability claims, often misleading consumers. The Norwegian Consumer Authority (CA) has called out H&M for its lack of clear information regarding its #Conscious Collection. This critique underscores the necessity for fashion brands to move beyond broad, generic claims and offer concrete details about their sustainability efforts. For instance, H&M’s descriptions of using "sustainable materials" like organic cotton and recycled polyester lack the necessary context and specificity, making it difficult for consumers to truly understand the environmental impact of their purchases. This issue is not confined to H&M. Zara and other major players in the industry are also under scrutiny for their ambiguous sustainability targets. While some brands, like Inditex, Zara’s parent company, have set more specific goals, there's still a long way to go. Consumers are increasingly demanding transparency and accountability. Brands that embrace detailed sustainability reporting and genuinely commit to environmentally friendly practices will not only build trust but also lead the industry towards a more sustainable future. For real change, it’s essential that companies start with an honest assessment of their current practices and openly share their progress. #sustainability #greenwashing #advertising

Loved speaking on this panel about young people’s attitudes towards sustainability 🌎 Thank you BMW Group for the incredible opportunity to speak alongside experts in fashion, automotive technology, and food about how sustainable innovation touches every sector. Why are young people obsessed with Shein? Because it's cheap! When cost drives decisions, fast fashion wins— but we can flip the script by making sustainability the easy choice. You can save up to 80% by shopping secondhand while helping the planet. That's the future we need. Reframing our purchasing decisions around the mindset of investing in quality - from our produce to our veichles - will empower consumers to make sustainability the simple choice #BMWGroup #BMW By aligning incentives and increasing transparency and education of sustainable shopping options, we can make responsible fashion the most attractive and accessible choice for all.

What does #circularity mean in the fashion industry? Last week, I had the opportunity to delve into this topic in a fireside chat with Brendan Tu at the UBS Action Showcase during Ecosperity Week. Moving towards a circular economy will require effort from the entire ecosystem, comprising brands, retailers, investors, manufacturers and customers. On SHEIN's part, while our on-demand business model reduces excess inventory waste, we continue to press ahead with our #evoluSHEIN strategy to address challenges across the key pillars of People, Planet and Process. Under the People pillar, we view our suppliers as partners, and work with them to enhance governance standards and working conditions, pairing enforcement with empowerment, including through the Supplier Community Empowerment Program that provides investments for training and upskilling initiatives and facilities enhancement, as well as the SHEIN Spotlight Program that provides financial grants for workers in need. Under the Planet pillar, we continue to source more products and materials with a lower environmental impact like recycled polyester. For recycled polyester, we are partnering with experts in material science to research how to bring down the costs to be more comparable to virgin polyester, so that the fabric transition can be commercially scalable. Under the Process pillar, we have introduced initiatives to engage our customers in circularity. For instance, SHEIN Exchange, our peer-to-peer resale platform, was developed based on customer feedback and includes features to make it easy and convenient for customers to list their pre-loved SHEIN items by pulling up their purchase history. Looking ahead, we recognise that there is much more to be done to transform towards circularity. But SHEIN is committed to playing our part, and empowering our suppliers, industry partners and customers to also come along on this journey.

"Repair, Reuse, Resell and Recycle" are words which seem to be increasingly prevelant in the fashion and retail business. A wide range of companies - from Selfridges to ASOS - are making commitments or building products designed to create a more sustainable future; not only for themselves, but for their customers too. This week Matt Prentis and I have written about UNIQLO's Re.Uniqlo Studio - a service they offer to help people get more from their clothing. A brilliant product idea which speaks to imagining a new future for the fashion and retail sector. Not only is it a great product idea, but it's one which is fertile enough that it could be stretched further into communications and media activation too. Link to the article is in the comments.