As resale becomes a hot topic for retailers and consumers alike, we’re excited to see major fashion brands starting to take control of their own secondhand narrative by developing brand owned resale platforms. We love that these brands are thinking about the relevance of the circular economy and the positive impact secondhand shopping has on the environment, but the real tea is that these retailers are entering the resale market because it’s also good business. In fact, according to Business of Fashion Insights data, the secondhand fashion market in the US is expected to reach $57 billion by the end of 2025! Brands see the opportunity and want to get in the game!  

Let’s see how these beloved brands are playing the secondhand game, shall we?

Patagonia Worn Wear

Patagonia’s secondhand shop Worn Wear has been available to the public since 2017. As the brand prides itself on superior quality, the jackets, sweatshirts, pants, and shorts found on the Worn Wear website are sure to last in your wardrobe. Worn Wear also features easy trade-in for customers looking to give their clothes a new home and offers store credit ranging from $10-$100. The site also includes testimonials from real Worn Wear shoppers, which overlaps with Patagonia’s community-driven brand ethos.

Lululemon Like New

Lululemon launched “like new” in April of this year! Through their secondhand platform, shoppers can trade in gently worn lulu gear for store credit as well as purchase (heavily discounted) secondhand gear directly from lululemon’s website. The purchase process is super simple because of the many filters you can click on to narrow down your search; while the filters include size and activity specifications, you can also choose between searching for clothes on the site that are either “good as new” or “gently used.” Another super cool part of the “like new” platform is that 100% of its profits goes to lululemon’s sustainability initiatives!

Levi’s Secondhand

Initiated in October of 2020, Levi’s Secondhand features another trade in opportunity for shoppers where customers can trade in Levi’s jeans, trucker jackets, and shorts for store credit. The denim brand also offers lots of filters to make the secondhand shopping experience easy for customers looking to shop resale. Another significant feature of the website is that Levi’s acknowledges how denim sizing has changed over the years, so Levi’s created an intuitive size guide that helps shoppers find the right size denim with ease. I’ve always found that worn-in denim is the best and comfiest! And Levi’s quality ensures that your jeans will last for years.

Madewell Forever

Madewell has pioneered the denim upcycling game for years. Their denim buyback program started the brand's environmentally conscious journey––when you bring in any pair of jeans Madewell gives you a $20 credit off of any full-price pair of their jeans, and then Madewell repurposes those jeans into housing insulation. More recently (in July 2021), the brand started their Madewell Forever program, a secondhand shopping platform that partners with thredUp and boasts thousands of secondhand Madewell clothing items. The website is clean, easy to use, and also includes resources that let customers know why shopping secondhand is impactful.

REI Used

REI’s secondhand marketplace includes not only clothing but also hundreds of pieces of outdoor equipment. Starting in 2017, REI Used was established to reduce REI’s overall carbon footprint, in addition to making high-quality outdoor equipment more affordable and accessible. On its website, REI puts it simply: “We're trying this out as a way to help more people get outdoors while keeping useful stuff out of the landfills.” Certainly a strategy we can get behind! REI Used also has a simple trade-in system and a complete list of trade-in do’s and don'ts for REI customers hoping to trade their used clothes and equipment for an REI gift card.  

Pro Tip: In addition to shopping secondhand on these branded sites, you can also use Beni to search for these and 400+ other brands across a bunch of the leading resale sites (TheRealReal, Vestiaire Collective, Rent The Runway, Tradesy, etc.) in the click of a button.  Check it out and see what Beni finds for you!  

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