High street fashion favourite Zara is looking to take on the likes of Depop with the launch of its own pre-owned clothing platform.
The platform, which is available as an app, allows customers to buy and sell pre-owned clothes bought from a Zara outlet, with Zara providing customer services.
Unlike Depop though, Zara will provide customers with all the product information on each item of clothing so they don’t have to rely on individual sellers’ descriptions.
It’s the latest example of so-called “fast fashion” retailers seeking to bolster their green credentials amid increasing scrutiny of their environmental footprint.
In July competition regulators launched a probe into whether fashion giants Asos, Boohoo and George at Asda were misleading their customers over their sustainability claims, while last year, fashion brands Zara, Primark and H&M were accused of greenwashing by campaign group Changing Markets Foundation after they were found to have made clothes using single-use plastic bottles, preventing them from being recycled.
Zara said the new platform was part of its approach to sustainability and reflected its “commitment to moving towards a circular economy model that encompasses all phases of its activity – from product design to the management of its stores, as well as manufacturing, logistics and the company’s offices.”
Zara said customers can also use the app to request that used clothing be collected from their home for donation. Online donations of garments will go to the Red Cross and are used to support of the development of projects in local communities.
Besides selling their clothes, Zara customers can head online to request repairs to their garments, including repairing seams and getting replacement buttons and zippers.
