Our Sustainability Manifesto
11 years ago we had a radical idea: To fight fashion waste by giving a second life to the clothes we no longer wear. Now we’re taking our ambitions to the next level.
Fashion is one of the world’s most polluting industries. Clothing consumption is set to rise 63% by 2030,* but today we wear our items 40% less than 10 years ago.**
Our mission is to transform the fashion industry for a more sustainable future, by empowering our community of Fashion Activists to drive the change. To make this happen, we need you!
These are the projects, commitments and actions we’re working on, so you know what we’re doing to transform our industry, and how you can get involved.
Set the Industry Standard
Our team are proud Fashion Activists and we believe business can be a force for good.
Inspired, committed employees are the first step
Among other benefits, we’re giving every team member 2 days a year to help an organisation of their choice.
Our strength comes from our diversity
We’ve created an internal taskforce with 5 teams to promote and support: Equal Opportunity, Women’s Empowerment, Ethnic Diversity, Disability, and LGBTQIA+.
We did it: We're a B Corp!
We're proud to become the world's first B Corp fashion resale platform! The most demanding certification, proving that our business is a force for good. It's a huge step in our ongoing mission to transform the fashion industry, and we want the whole fashion ecosystem to join us.
Reduce Our Footprint
Resale already avoids 100% of the environmental damage caused by fashion production. Next up:
- Better understanding our impact
- We’re working hard to decrease our impact and we’re now tackling carbon - it’s the key to fighting the climate crisis. We’ll share our commitments soon - stay tuned!
- Reducing the distance between you and the items you want
- Over 50% of your orders are already bought locally or sent with Direct Shipping, saving over 1,167 tons of CO2 since launching.*** Next: More local items and shipping options, so you can always shop sustainably.
- Improving our packaging and logistics
- Our new ‘less is more’ packaging has just launched! We stripped out everything unnecessary, and it’s now 100% reduced, recycled and recyclable.
Empower our community
We can’t change the fashion industry ourselves - we need our entire Fashion Activist community! We will:
- Inform and educate even more
- We’ve collaborated with Fashion Activists to call for more responsible consumption in our Brand Film - as seen by millions! Soon: Follow the leaf for the most sustainable brands, items and ways of buying.
- Reward responsible shoppers
- Our Fashion Activist badge is awarded to members who practice circularity by both buying and selling with us. We’ll be adding more to it as we evolve, so you can track your achievements!
- Collective for Change
- 'Collective for Change' is a social-first programme that connects leading voices in sustainable fashion directly with our global community. Every month on our Instagram, different experts share their insights and advice so we can all transform the way we consume fashion. Visit @vestiaireco for more details!
Trigger systemic change
Resale is the best solution to reduce the impact of fashion, and we’re the experts. We’re committing to:
- Amplifying the voice of resale
- We’re active members of groups who are pushing for a more sustainable fashion system: Ellen MacArthur Foundation, UN Fashion Alliance, ParisGoodFashion, prAna movement.
- Partnering with brands
- Our Brand Approved collaboration with Alexander McQueen and Mulberry is just the start. We’re fighting side-by-side with luxury fashion brands, encouraging their customers to embrace circular fashion by reselling their unworn pieces with us.
- Sharing our data and knowledge
- We want to keep sharing what we know about resale and how we can change fashion beyond our community, in a dynamic, open-source way. Knowledge is power!
We need you!
Simply follow our golden rules to Fashion Activism: buy less, buy better, wear more, care more, and sell more.
Ideas, questions, challenges? Let us know in the comments section below!
*Greenpeace
**Ellen MacArthur Foundation
***Mu - Eco-agency assessment commissioned by Vestiaire Collective June-September 2020