How big fashion took over the second hand market

Thrifting is booming. But as giants like H&M, Zara and Lululemon are jumping onto the trend and cashing in, is it becoming a net negative?

#PlanetA #secondhand #thrift

Credits:
Reporter: Katharina Schantz
Camera: Henning Goll, Neven Hillebrands
Video Editor: Neven Hillebrands
Supervising Editors: Adam Baheej Adada, Michael Trobridge
Fact Check: Aitziber Romero Bengoetxea
Thumbnail: Em Chabridon

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:53 The glow-up
02:52 Inside the resale industry
04:42 The digital resale boom
06:43 How brands use secondhand to sell more
09:41 How much secondhand is too much?
11:18 What now?

Read more:
Second-hand clothing markets and a just circular economy?https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652623002974

The Environmental Impacts of Second-Hand Textile Fashion and the Influence of Consumer Choices
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/383269526_Do_We_Save_the_Environment_by_Buying_Second-Hand_Clothes_The_Environmental_Impacts_of_Second-Hand_Textile_Fashion_and_the_Influence_of_Consumer_Choices

The Waste and Resources Action Program: Textiles 2030 - Annual Progress Report 2023/2024
https://www.wrap.ngo/sites/default/files/2024-11/textiles-2030-annual-progress-report-23-24.pdf

Circular Business Models in the Fashion industry
https://cfda.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/2.-Report-Circular-Business-Models.pdf

ThredUp: Resale Report 2025
https://cf-assets-tup.thredup.com/resale_report/2025/ThredUp_Resale_Report_2025.pdf

We're destroying our environment at an alarming rate. But it doesn't need to be this way. Planet A explores the shift towards an eco-friendly world — and challenges our ideas about what dealing with climate change means. We look at the big and the small: What we can do and how the system needs to change. We'll take a truly global look at how to get us out of this mess.

Follow Planet A on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dw_planeta?lang=en