Farfetch publishes its first annual conscious luxury trends report

Luxury platform Farfetch reveals that consumer behaviour has changed “significantly” in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic and that they are choosing to shop more consciously.

Consumer awareness is driving transformation, explains Farfetch in its first annual Conscious Luxury Trends Report, which looked at how luxury consumers are shopping more responsibly. Findings reveal that the sale of conscious products grew 3.4 times faster than the marketplace average over 2020, helped by what it calls its “broader offering and increased consumer interest”.

Traffic to conscious pages on Farfetch.com also quadrupled year-on-year and following the pandemic, there has been a dramatic rise in the use of the sustainability filter to find responsible brands.

Farfetch adds that while there was a global shift, Mexico experiencing the strongest growth globally in conscious shopping, up 341 percent year-on-year growth in Conscious GMV 2019/2020. While Asian countries demonstrated a forward-thinking approach to brands, often adopting emerging conscious brands before the rest of the world.

Circular fashion initiatives also resonating with customers, added Farfetch, with its Second Life resale service growing 527 percent year-on-year, whilst its donations service grew by 662 percent. Sales of and views of pre-owned items also saw “huge growth”.

When it comes to which boutiques and brands are taking action to meet consumer demand, Farfetch reveals that small luxury brands including Veja, Bode and Alighieri are leading the charge in terms of conscious practice, alongside established luxury brands including Gucci, Prada and Burberry who have all launched successful conscious collections.

For brands to be highlighted as conscious on the luxury platform, Farfetch uses a set of independently backed criteria, with products marked as conscious needing to adhere to one of the following criteria: be made of independently recognised or certified materials, for example, organic, recycled and upcycled fabrics, or low impact cellulosic materials; have been created via a certified production process, be pre-owned or belong to a brand that scores well with ethical rating agency Good on You.

Farfetch updates Fashion Footprint Tool to help consumers shop more responsibly

Alongside the report, Farfetch has also launched an enhanced version of its Fashion Footprint Tool, in partnership with IOF.earth, which allows consumers to easily understand the impact of their fashion choices.

The tool now allows customers to see the environmental savings of more sustainable versions of materials compared to standard ones, as well as showing customers a short fact regarding the material to cover some of the wider fashion sustainability issues, for instance, microplastics.

In addition, the tool also gives consumers the chance to see the potential environmental savings of incorporating pre-owned purchases into their wardrobes.

Thomas Berry, director of sustainable business at Farfetch, said in a statement: “We’re delighted to be launching our first annual report exploring how luxury consumers are shopping more consciously and how the world’s leading brands and boutiques are responding to these changes. 2020 saw a rapid acceleration of the move online and, as our report finds, a surge in consumers choosing to shop more positively.

“2020 was a busy year at Farfetch as we launched our ambitious, long-term commitments through our Positively Farfetch 2030 goals, increased our stock of conscious products, and scaled our initiatives that support our customers with circular services like Farfetch Second Life and Farfetch Donate. Our updated Fashion Footprint Tool is the latest of our initiatives to enable customers to make more informed decisions on how they shop and the environmental impact they have.”