Vestiaire Collective cuts out H&M, Zara and more in expanded fast fashion ban

Second-hand resale platform Vestiaire Collective has said that it will be expanding its ban of fast fashion in a bid to further its efforts of tackling waste in the industry.

While in 2022, the ban impacted the likes of Boohoo, Pretty Little Thing, Asos and Shein, now the company will also be permanently banning Gap, Zara, Urban Outfitters, Uniqlo, Mango, Benetton, Bershka, Oysho and H&M, among others, from its platform.

Like the ban prior, the move comes ahead of Black Friday and contributes to Vestiaire’s three-year plan to counter unsustainable practices in fashion and ultimately remove all fast fashion brands from its offering.

The initiative sees Vestiaire work together with The Or Foundation, which works towards raising awareness around clothing waste, particularly in Ghana where a reported 15 million fashion items arrive at the Kantamanto market every week.

This latest move was announced in a letter on Vestiaire’s website from founders Fanny Moizant and Sophie Hersan, who said the reason behind launching the ban was down to hefty production and the rising amount of textile waste.

The letter stated: “Every year, the fashion industry produces 100 billion garments. Zara and H&M alone produce more than one billion garments per year.

“As we consume more and wear less, 92 million tons of textile waste is discarded on a yearly basis - most of it coming from fast fashion brands. This is enough to fill the Empire State Building every day, and has a major environmental and social impact.”

Vestiaire is instead urging people to “think first, buy second”, a movement that it is complementing with the introduction of a 400 euro voucher giveaway, available for customers to participate in through its social media site.