Hugo Boss’ Russian subsidiary has tapped a fashion trade-in service to allow its customers to exchange clothing castoffs for shopping credit.
Bewearcy will be helping the label Hugo’s Russian operations recapture the value of unwanted fashion items, promoting greater circularity in its supply chain. Bewearcy’s mission, it says, is to provide a “win-win approach,” where consumers can quickly and easily update their closet and brands can win new customers and foster the loyalty of existing ones. Working with Bewearcy, the company claims, can increase average revenues by 68 percent and customer retention rates by 77 percent.
Extending the longevity of clothing can also decrease its carbon footprint by up to 30 percent, said Bewearcy CEO Ivan Cherkashin, quoting figures from Britain’s Waste Resources Action Programme. As the industry strains to meet ambitious climate targets, “this is a meaningful number,” he added.
“Over the past year, more than 50 global brands have introduced the resale practice to their businesses,” Cherkashin, who founded Bewearcy in Russia in 2020, said in a statement. “I am sure the number of such brands will only grow. At Bewearcy we help fashion brands to own the customer’s resale experience. It’s absolutely amazing to see a brand like Hugo being among our first clients on the Russian market.”
How Bewearcy works is mostly friction-free. Customers simply have to hop onto the online platform to arrange a courier pickup of the clothing they no longer want. At the Bewearcy warehouse, items are assessed for visible defects or stains. From there, they’re dispatched to one of a slew of resale websites “to search for their new owners.” Sellers then receive a text alert once the shopping points of their selected brand have been credited into their accounts. Those points, which come up as a 30 percent discount, can be used at the checkout of any Hugo retail store by flashing a personalized QR code.
“Waste reduction, green thinking, conscious consumption are the key initiatives we do care about,” a spokesperson from Hugo said. “Hugo, as one of the brands of the Hugo Boss giant company, takes a responsible approach towards partners and suppliers, amongst which almost 96 percent occupy high positions in the sustainable ratings and audits for advanced and environmentally friendly technological companies. We are happy to announce our partnership with Bewearcy, which demonstrates perfectly our position towards responsible consumption.”
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A recent study by ThredUp and GlobalData found that one in three fashion executives consider resale “table stakes,” while nearly half (43 percent) of U.S. consumers are more likely to shop with a brand that lets them trade in old clothes for store credit. Another 34 percent are more likely to shop with a brand that offers secondhand clothing next to its new offerings. Over the next five years, secondhand apparel is expected to double in value to $77 billion in the United States alone, they added.