arvey Nichols has revealed it is partnering with luxury resale service Reflaunt as the pre-loved trend continues to grow.
The high-end department store group has teamed up with the company, which launched in 2018 with a mission “to make it as easy and scalable as possible to extend the life of garments and prevent them from ending up in landfills”.
Products Reflaunt lists are uploaded onto a global network of second-hand marketplaces.
The new partnership, launching on August 26, will allow fashion lovers to drop off clothes, bags, accessories and watches they want to resell at Harvey Nichols stores, and earn back up to 80% of the items’ original price once they are sold via a Reflaunt-run portal on the department store’s website.
Customers can be repaid either in cash or in Harvey Nichols vouchers.
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Harvey Nichols chief executive, Manju Malhotra, said the new partnership will “offer our customers a circular model of consumption and ensure luxury fashion items are given the longer lifespan that they deserve”.
Reflaunt founder Stephanie Crespin says the company’s goal is “ultimately shifting consumer habits towards conscious consumption of higher quality products”.
Upcycling furniture and other everyday items soared to popularity over the past decade as consumers became ever more conscious of their impact on the planet.
Sustainability in the fashion industry has also become a focus. Many young people are shunning fast fashion, and looking to make new, ethically-produced purchases they will keep for years, or to buy second-hand.
Over the last year or so the idea of avoiding waste by renting luxury items for events – a la Carrie Johnson’s wedding dress – and reselling unwanted expensive goods has grown as a trend.
Many fashionistas are also aware there are bargains to be had, and beautiful vintage pieces to find, through reselling services. The trend has grown fast among young people using apps such as fashion marketplace Depop, recently snapped up by Etsy for $1.6 billion.
It also comes as investors increasingly demand companies show genuine commitment to ESG (environmental, social, and governance) criteria.
Retailers both on and offline are looking to cash in, as are big-name fashion brands.
Harvey Nichols’ rival Selfridges has a permanent second-hand sales space, while designers and brands tapping the new resale market range from Levi’s to Ralph Lauren.
