Vestiaire Collective bans H&M and Zara

In anticipation of the retail industry’s Black Friday event, Vestiaire Collective has removed H&M, Zara, and dozens of other brands and retailers from its platform. The fashion resale specialist is urging partners and customers to join its ‘Think First, Buy Second’ campaign.

The French company, an exponent of the rapidly growing recommerce market, categorically excludes environmentally and socially unsustainable companies, considering factors such as product quality, associated carbon emissions, and working conditions. This move further emphasizes its commitment to creating a more circular economy.

Second wave, third to follow

Last year, several fast-fashion brands were already banned from the site. “A second wave of the fight against fast fashion” followed last Friday. In the lead-up to Black Friday, which has grown into a massive international shopping day, the platform from France has once again made a strong statement, effectively urging shoppers to reject fast fashion. The company has no qualms about it; on the contrary:

‘Vestiaire Collective proudly bans a list of 30 brands.’

Following last year’s initial announcement, Vestiaire Collective says it saw 70 percent of members affected by the ban return to the platform to shop for better quality items and invest in second-hand goods.

In addition to H&M and Zara, the ban list now also includes Abercrombie & Fitch, Gap, Mango, Uniqlo, and Urban Outfitters, among others. The company has already announced that next year it will once again ban brands, marking the third wave of exclusions.

Criteria

Vestiaire Collective has announced the introduction of a set of criteria for what the platform considers to be fast fashion. These criteria were developed with a committee of nine fashion and sustainability experts.

A committee of experts built a fast fashion framework

The team built a framework based on criteria it believes contribute to overproduction and overconsumption, including the number of collections and newly dropped items, pricing, repairability, speed to market, and the intensity of sales promotions.