At this year’s New York Fashion Week and London Fashion Week, eBay debuted its first pre-loved fashion runway in partnership with the Council of Fashion Designers of America. The New York show was curated by stylist Wisdom Kaye and hosted by writer Liana Satenstein, showcasing American designers in the “Endless Runway,” a live, shoppable runway show. Pieces from Brandon Maxwell, Ralph Lauren, Simone Rocha, Off-White, and many more were featured. In the London show, curated by stylist Amy Bannerman and co-hosted by model Leomie Anderson, pieces from designers like Vivenne Westwood, Alexander McQueen, Wales Bonner, and Craig Green were shown. The shows were followed by a curation of daily drops on eBay of pieces seen on the actual runway in an attempt to bring affordable circular fashion to the forefront of costumer’s minds. Buying secondhand reduces the demand for new products. It also lowers the environmental impact of manufacturing. Luxury goods are typically made with higher quality materials, giving the pieces a longer lifespan. In a world of fast fashion, eBay and other reselling platforms push the importance and sustainability of secondhand fashion into the limelight, making thrifting and affordable clothing more accessible. Â
Why?
This is part of eBay’s campaign to spread awareness of pre-loved fashion. Steven Kolb, the CEO of Council of Fashion Designers of America even said, “eBay Pre-loved Fashion Week and its Endless Runway live show connects the past, present, and future – and delivers a powerful reminder that the future of fashion is circular.” This has been a successful tactic for the company in the past, pushing secondhand fashion into mainstream media. In 2022, the fast fashion sponsors, Misguided and I Saw it First, were replaced by the popular TV show Love Island. Searches for “sustainable fashion” and “pre-loved fashion” on the platform went up by over 1,500%, which is a big jump considering only 40% of the platform’s merchandise inventory is pre-loved and refurbished items. eBay stated in a release that close to $50 billion worth of secondhand luxury items were sold worldwide in 2023 alone. They went on to include that the boost in high-end resale was mainly due to the younger customers, adding that the word “vintage” was searched more than 1,000 times per minute in June. Â
Kristy Keoghan, eBay’s Global General Manager of Fashion, added in an interview with Vogue that, “This is about making [pre-loved fashion] really accessible–some of these are past runway pieces.” Optimistic that designers showing at Fashion Week take note, she adds, “Hopefully this gives brands the confidence and impetus to actually bring back some of those archive pieces.” Â
Impact
This is the first time there has been an on-schedule London fashion week show exclusively showing secondhand fashion. eBay’s Preloved Style Director, Amy Bannerman, said it best, calling the show “a monumental moment for circular fashion.” Using mainstream media to promote secondhand luxury fashion is a significant move on eBay’s part. Sustainability consultant Francois Souchet explained that pop culture plays an imperative role in normalizing the appeal of secondhand and broadening its reach. However, the impact this could have on sustainability depends on how eBay decides to moderate the growth. Secondhand shopping is only considered sustainable when it replaces new purchases. Souchet explains that “Platforms should be careful about not creating perverse incentives that fuel overconsumption — we often see circular models being used to fuel linear growth.” This still doesn’t account for the bigger issue of emissions; reselling platforms like eBay have a hard time reducing indirect emissions because they don’t produce the items sold. For this exact reason, the Circular Fashion Innovation Fund was created by eBay in partnership with The British Fashion Council in 2022, funneling investments into social enterprises, small businesses, and circular fashion charities. This is a great start to thinking beyond the scope of one company and building a more “circular economy.” Souchet expands on this, stating “The goal is to create an ecosystem of players that together create a circular economy, not to have an ecosystem of circular companies.” While eBay pushing secondhand fashion with high-profile initiatives is a huge step for circular fashion, the key to its long-term sustainability is moderation and broader systematic changes. The creation of the Circular Fashion Innovation Fund is also a promising step towards a more sustainable ecosystem. It is important that we create a genuinely circular economy. Â