German fashion brand Armedangels is getting in on the soon-to-be $53 billion resale market. The sustainably focused label announced it will begin accepting and offering previously owned apparel from its collections.
The move follows Levi’s and Boyish’s venture into the secondhand market in recent years. Lifestyle sneaker brand Allbirds dove into the segment last month, when it offered customers at three stores the option of trading in their “preloved” shoes for $20 in store credit.
Powered by recommerce-as-a-service tool Reverse.Supply, the secondhand offering will provide customers the opportunity to resell their Armedangels items in exchange for store credit, as well as shop the secondhand store for previously owned styles. Used Armedangels garments in poor condition can be returned to the brand in exchange for a store credit worth about $5 (5 euros). Items will be recycled into new ArmedAngels apparel or broken down into useful materials.
Customers will be able to access the resale platform through the Armedangels website beginning March 22.
Based in Germany, Reserve.Supply is just one of many tools helping companies more easily set up their resale business. The market’s rapid success has encouraged the launch of similar solutions such as recommerce platform Treet, which helped sustainable denim brand Boyish Jeans sell hundreds of items and attract new customers within a year of its integration.
Another platform, Recurate, works with Outerknown and Mara Hoffman, and recently set up branded re-commerce sites for Steve Madden and Dolce Vita. The company integrates its own software directly into the front end of the brand’s website without interrupting the branded experience, and handles back-end details like integration, shipping and customer service.
Launching resale was a logical next step for Armedangels, which has a “great” ranking on sustainable brand directory Good on You, and was one of the brands featured in Zalando’s “sustainable fashion assortment.” It uses a high proportion of eco-friendlier fibers, including certified recycled cotton and Tencel.
In a 2020 sustainability report, the company noted that all of its suppliers reused or recycled more than 25 percent of their production waste.
It also indicated that it has 100 percent traceability into its garment manufacturers, dyeing, washing and printing mills, and fabric and yarn manufacturers; 89 percent traceability into its raw material producers; and 74 percent traceability into its farms and forests. To address its shortcomings, ArmedAngels uses the TextileGenesis traceability solution to track and verify fibers. The solution authenticates raw materials as they pass through the production process and offers brands more insight into each tier of their supply chain.