ARE TRUMP TARIFFS THE REASON BEHIND SURGES IN FASHION RE-SALE?
By: Prachi Khatri
Since the announcement of Trump tariffs in March this year, many brands are frantically on Excel sheets navigating the cost increase, but the pre-loved fashion market is thriving. Originally aimed to protect American manufacturing, Trump tariffs have unknowingly helped the secondhand fashion market in an unexpected era of thriving more than ever.
Beyond economics, the pre-loved fashion market has been a powerful weapon of sustainability and philanthropy. Conscious consumers know the price our planet pays with the hidden cost of fashion. An average American consumer discards around 81 pounds of clothing every year; that’s around 2150 pieces per second.
Source: Chloe Evans / @chloeevans
According to data from Columbia University, Americans alone contribute 11.3 million tons of textile waste, equivalent to 85% of all textile waste that ends up in landfills annually. As the tariffs on Chinese imports have been imposed in the U.S., new clothing became more expensive than before, driving consumers turning towards thrift shops, secondhand sellers, and resale platforms. What started as a step towards cost-cutting has now turned into a movement with meaningful values and real-life textbook examples to reduce, recycle, and reuse.
Secondhand fashion is the path forward to a greener planet. Consumers are aware that their cost-saving efforts are not only reducing waste but also helping to support local communities and businesses as well as reshaping the way we perceive fashion.
Purchasing used clothing lowers energy, reduces water usage, and reduces pollution due to less demand for new clothing. ThredUp's 2023 Resale Report estimated that if everyone purchased one used item a year, it could save 5.7 billion pounds of CO2 emissions. Putting numbers into perspective, that’s equivalent to removing half a million cars from the road for a year. Shocking, right?
Secondhand clothes not only prolong a clothes’ lifecycle but also prevent them from ending up in landfills and causing stress to our planet. A surge in the demand for secondhand clothes also means a reduced need for mass production and manufacturing. Thanks to the Trump tariffs in the U.S., people are continuously recirculating vs. previously discarding their old/unused clothes, increasing a circular economy.
Source: Insta handle @findzbychloe
As the import duties are huge, the price of new clothes is predicted to go up by 65% and people are feeling the impact of this on their shopping bills. Suddenly that mall visit with your bestie to buy a new dress for a casual dinner is a huge expense on your budget sheet. Pre-loved clothing is a smart, cost-effective alternative. Many platforms like Poshmark, Craigslist, eBay, ThreadUP, and OfferUP offer secondhand items for sellers and buyers. Some platforms, like Kindsy, selling children’s products, have reported an 85% increase in consumer traffic looking for secondhand products for their children.
The second-hand clothing boom is not just beneficial for our planet but also has social impacts. The SWAP Team in Montreal runs clothing swaps and donates leftovers to the Salvation Army. Other organizations like Dress for Success are helping women achieve their dreams of economic independence by providing them gently used clothes received from donations.
Tapping into the inventory that already exists in people’s clothes or in warehouses offers a huge revenue source that brands did not realize existed before. Trump's tariffs may have been a catalyst, but the momentum in the rise of the secondhand clothing market is here to stay. Consumers, especially Gen Z, are embracing conscious consumerism and finding secondhand choices as a budget-friendly option. Why buy a $3000 luxury handbag when you can buy 5 at that price on a secondhand platform, right?
Let's make the clothing not only look good but do good!
Cover Image: Burgess Milner / @burgessbadass