Our Fight Against Fast Fashion
This Better Friday, we're banning fast fashion items from our platform. It's part of our mission to fight fashion waste over the next 3 years. Here's how it'll work...
Step 1. Rejecting Fast Fashion
Fast fashion is the industry’s biggest challenge. In the past 15 years, global clothing production has doubled. We’re buying more low quality items than ever before, but we’re using them 40% less. At Vestiaire Collective, we don't want to be part of an outdated, exploitative system. By saying no to fast fashion and choosing second-hand instead, our community are already changing the fashion industry for the better.
Step 2: Working with The Or Foundation
3 out of 5 fast fashion items end up in landfill. Over 15 million fashion items arrive at the Kantamanto market in Ghana every week. 40% of these items leave the market as waste, causing environmental devastation. In October 2022, The Or Foundation hosted a team of Vestiaire Collective employees in Kantamanto, and we've joined forces to fight fashion's biggest challenges through circularity.
Step 3: Lobbying for Change
To ensure that this ban doesn’t push the responsibility of fast fashion waste onto Kantamanto, we're taking two further actions. The first is to lobby, with The Or, for legislation around Extended Producer Responsibility at governmental level. The second is to find practical solutions for the fast fashion items our community already owns, including recycling, upcycling, and constructive donation strategies. The target is to be 100% free of fast fashion by Better Friday 2024.