Secondhand Service for Clothing: A Step Toward Sustainability?

Starting in late October 2024, Zara will introduce its secondhand service in the United States, allowing customers to sell, repair, or donate their clothing. This initiative, announced by parent company Inditex, aims to extend the lifecycle of garments and reduce waste.

The Clothing Garbage Mountain

On average, people in the Western world discard approximately 37 kilograms (81 pounds) of clothing per person (!) annually. In the U.S. alone, this adds up to over 11 million tons of textile waste each year, with 85% of those clothes ending up in landfills or being incinerated. This trend is mirrored in many Western countries, where the rapid consumption and disposal of fashion contribute significantly to environmental pollution.

In economic terms, the fashion industry discards an estimated $500 billion worth of clothing annually on a global scale due to under-wearing and failure to recycle.

Fast fashion is particularly problematic because it encourages frequent purchases of low-cost, low-quality garments, which are often discarded after being worn only a few times. This contributes to a growing culture of disposability, driving up the amount of textile waste year after year.

Why Secondhand Fashion Is Relevant Now

The fashion industry has long been criticized for its heavy environmental footprint, particularly due to the rapid pace of changing trends and the disposal of garments. Secondhand services like that of Zara or H&M offer consumers a simple alternative: help reduce textile waste and extend the life of your favorite pieces.

Zara’s secondhand platform, called ‘Pre-Owned’, is already active in 16 European countries, including Spain, France, and Germany. The platform first launched in the UK in November 2022. This initiative is part of Inditex’s broader strategy to reduce raw material consumption and achieve sustainability goals across all strategic markets by 2025.

Zara isn’t the only fast-fashion giant taking this approach. Competitor H&M also offers secondhand items in the U.S. through a partnership with ThredUp.

However. There are potential drawbacks and criticisms that shouldn’t be overlooked.

The Hidden Downsides of Secondhand Clothing Services

Secondhand clothing service from major brands seem like a positive step towards sustainability, but there are potential drawbacks and criticisms that shouldn’t be overlooked. Especially greenwashing is never far away.

Here are some of the negative sides to consider:

1. Greenwashing Concerns

Fast-fashion brands faces accusations of greenwashing—presenting itself as sustainable without addressing the fundamental issues in its business model. While the secondhand platform may help reduce waste, the core practice of producing cheap, rapidly changing collections remains highly polluting. This initiative could be a way to project a green image without making deeper changes to actual production processes.

2. Limited Environmental Impact

Although these secondhand services extend the lifespan of clothes, it doesn’t necessarily address the environmental harm caused by high production volumes. As long as these brands continue to operate under a fast-fashion model with frequent, mass-produced collections, the demand for raw materials and the carbon footprint from production will remain substantial.

3. Clothing Quality

Fast-fashion garments are often not made to last. The quality of this clothing might undermine the effectiveness of a secondhand platform, as items may not withstand repeated wear or repairs. This limits how useful the services can be in actually reducing textile waste.

4. Consumer Behavior

There’s a risk that offering secondhand services could make consumers feel less guilty about purchasing fast fashion. They may believe that donating or reselling clothes offsets the negative impact of their consumption, while the issue of overproduction continues to persist.

5. Competition with Small Businesses

Theses secondhand platforms could overshadow smaller, independent secondhand stores and platforms. These smaller businesses, often built around conscious consumerism, may struggle to compete with a giant like Zara or H&M that have a larger marketing reach and brand recognition.

6. Profit Over Sustainability

There’s concern that these brands might prioritize profit over genuine sustainability. If the focus of their secondhand platform leans more towards resale than repair or donation, it could indicate that the initiative is primarily driven by commercial interests rather than ecological ones.

In the case of Zara, this brand does offer repair and donations services too.

7. Limited Repair Services

Depending on the scope of the repair services offered, these brands may only provide basic fixes. This could result in more complex repairs being ignored, leading to items being discarded despite the initiative’s sustainability goals.

In the case of Zara for instance they do offer a proper repair service which includes the following: buttons, adjustment of dresses, adjustment of trousers, zip replacements, tears & small holes, seam repair and debobbling.

Overproduction and Disposable Fashion: The Challenge for Fast Fashion Brands

Fast fashion brands have started taking steps toward sustainability, such as launching secondhand services or offering repair programs, but their effectiveness hinges on addressing deeper issues within the industry. While these initiatives are positive, they do not solve the core problems of overproduction and disposable fashion, which remain significant obstacles to true sustainability.

The fast-fashion model thrives on overproduction, with brands rapidly releasing new collections to keep up with fleeting trends. This constant churn encourages consumers to buy more, often at the expense of quality and longevity. As a result, vast amounts of clothing end up in landfills after only a few wears, contributing to a growing environmental crisis. Although secondhand and repair initiatives can extend the lifecycle of some garments, they are unlikely to have a significant impact unless fast fashion companies fundamentally rethink their production processes.

Reducing overproduction is essential for these brands to make meaningful strides toward sustainability. As long as they continue to produce vast quantities of low-cost clothing, the environmental benefits of reselling or repairing garments will be overshadowed by the immense waste created through their primary business operations. Fast fashion’s reliance on volume-driven sales and short product cycles directly contradicts the goals of long-term environmental sustainability.

In addition, the culture of disposable fashion—where clothing is designed for short-term use and easily replaced—persists. This mentality needs to shift for true progress to be made. Consumers must be encouraged to prioritize quality over quantity and invest in clothing that lasts longer. Fast fashion brands, in turn, should focus on producing higher-quality garments made from durable materials and adopt practices that reduce waste throughout the supply chain.

While current sustainability initiatives by fast fashion brands are steps in the right direction, they risk becoming surface-level solutions unless they address the structural issues inherent in their business model. Long-term change requires a move away from overproduction, a rethinking of supply chain ethics, and a commitment to producing garments designed for durability rather than disposability.

Ultimately, for the fashion industry to reduce its environmental footprint, it must move beyond temporary fixes and focus on a deeper transformation of how clothing is made, marketed, and consumed. Only then can fast fashion brands truly mitigate their impact and contribute to a more sustainable future.