Exposing the True Cost of Fast Fashion
This Earth Day, we're announcing the launch of our 2024 Circularity Report, which proves that neither people, nor planet can afford fast fashion.
Cheap' Fast Fashion is a False Economy
We conducted a first-of-its-kind consumer survey that revealed fast fashion items are worn less on average, kept for less time, and have a lower resale value. Then we developed a way to measure what matters most: the cost-per-wear.
Put simply, cost-per-wear is the price of an item, minus its resale value, divided by the amount of times it’s worn.
Our study shows that, when analyzed per wear, pre-loved clothes on Vestiaire Collective were 33% cheaper in the long run than buying brand-new fast fashion products. Plus, a pre-loved pair of shoes will save almost 50% of the cost of a ‘quick win’ pair from a fast fashion brand.
Instead, investing in high value, higher quality items is the smarter choice to save money.
Fast Fashion, Short Lived
Fast fashion is just that — its fleeting nature means that it's worn less and thrown out faster. In fact, 60% of fast fashion items end up in landfill within a year of purchase.
But we now know that our Collective wears their pre-loved pieces for more than double the length of time that fast fashion shoppers wear theirs...
When we value something more, we take better care of it and hold on to it for longer. On average, Vestiaire Collective users keep their items 31% longer — or 1.4 years more — than other consumers.
Our Collective is Leading the Resale Revolution
Buyers on Vestiaire Collective are 84% less likely to overconsume, and only 12% of our orders are impulse buys. Plus, 79% of the items we sell replace a first-hand purchase. We call this our displacement rate.
Every time you choose a pre-loved item on Vestiaire Collective instead of buying something new, you help reduce its environmental impact by 90%.
Growth Doesn't Have to Come at a Cost
Our report shows that, as we grow, our net positive impact on the environment is widening, year after year. In fact, we prevent almost 3x more emissions than we generate.
And we're not just avoiding emissions — we've also reduced our own carbon intensity through decreasing our reliance on air transportation and increasing local shipping, as well as optimizing our packaging to reduce waste.
Want to know more about our climate strategy?