Global luxury resale platform Vestiaire Collective is about to unveil a new initiative this week called Collective for Change, a series of monthly conversations around sustainable fashion and inclusivity taking place on Instagram Live. “Fashion activism starts with knowledge exchange. We’re thrilled to launch an educational programme with sustainability at its heart, that will change consumption habits and encourage our members and the wider world to reduce, reuse, recycle, shop responsibly,
ly, and learn more about sustainability in fashion,” said Dounia Wone, Vestiaire Collective’s chief sustainability and inclusivity officer.
The first Collective for Change conversation will take place this Friday with slow fashion advocate and broadcaster, Venetia La Manna. In August, Vestiaire will partner with climate action non-profit organisation, Slow Factory, who will discuss fashion sustainability, building anti-racist communities and growing climate-positive movements.
“This will be presented as a summer camp for activists, with input from charities large and small, influencers, activists, designers and of course, our community,” said Vestiaire Collective in a statement.
Launched in Paris in 2009, Vestiaire Collective is an app for luxury pre-loved fashion with an inventory of 3 million items that include 550,000 new listings every month. The business has offices in Paris, Hong Kong, Singapore, New York and a technology hub in Berlin. In March this year, luxury powerhouse Kering announced that it is taking a 5 per cent stake in Vestiaire Collective, which is now valued at more than $1 billion.
According to a report from ThredUp this year, the secondhand fashion market is expected to double in the next five years, reaching $77 billion. This is driven by the growth of the resale market.
“Marketing for a better world”: The rise of woke business
It’s no secret that in recent years, consumers are now looking to support businesses with social and ethical values, particularly those in the fashion industry. Last year, McKinsey and Co released a report revealing that 67 per cent of consumers consider the use of sustainable materials to be an important purchasing factor, while 63 per cent also take into account how a business supports sustainable practices.
According to Dr Abas Mizraei, senior lecturer at Macquarie Business School, it’s now an expectation of big businesses with an extensive social media reach to use their platforms towards “marketing for a better world”.
“The next generation of consumers are more woke and purposeful, and their purchase is more aligned with human values than product features, and functionalities,” he said.
“Brands have realised these expectations, and are very motivated to become relevant and stay relevant based on higher order values. Consumers tend to tolerate functionality much more than values.”
Mizraei pointed to Ben and Jerry’s for its effective community work over the years, from offsetting carbon emissions and protesting against the use of cloned animals in food products to supporting marriage equality. Patagonia is another example of a successful activist brand, he said. However, Mizraei has observed that in recent months, some social brands have been more wary of how they back certain causes for fear of backlash.
“Overall, high tension brand activism built on polarising social movements is declining, however low tension safe and slow cooked activism is on the rise,” he said, adding that he has seen a rise in campaigns around diversity and inclusion.
“There are many reasons behind the success of an activist brand. Message tone, history of practicing what the brand is advocating for, choosing less polarising and partisan topics, alignment with existing values, image and positioning, consistency and commitment, and less political topics, are among the reasons leading to a successful activism campaign.”
Mizraei also offered the following tips for brands looking to develop their social and community work in an authentic way:
Don’t wait for the next social movement to become an activist;Make sure the topics you choose are aligned with your brand positioning, image and internal values;Start taking baby steps, and creating a track record of practicing purposefulness, otherwise you will be labelled as opportunistic. Don’t confuse baby steps with shortcuts. Your target audience is smart and you’ll be caught out.