<h2 class="wp-block-heading eplus-wrapper" id="crosshead">Sew it seams...</h2>

"Diamonds are a girl's best friend," croons Marilyn Monroe in the iconic 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Well, no more. Today's youth are not seeking out sparkling new jewels or freshly seamed garments, but rifling through musty shelves for pre-worn treasures.

Gen ZShort for Generation Z, meaning people born in the late 1990s and early 2000s. consumers have created a new trend: something old is something new. Whilst sales decline month on month for cheap but unsustainable fashion brands such as Shein, the pre-loved economy is thriving.¹

Statistics show a 149% growth in Britain's clothes resale market between 2016 and 2022, and the market is expected to double in size within the next five years to a staggering £12.6 billion.

Studies suggest that two-thirds of people purchasing second-hand goods cite expenses as their main motivation. But there is also a market for "luxury second-hand", which outpaced new luxury sales by five times between 2017 and 2021.

Many will welcome the shift. Some say that fast fashion has made buying new almost too affordable. Nowadays, people spend a lower share of their income on clothing than ever before, but fast fashion has doubled overall clothes production in the last two decades.²

And it incurs a huge environmental cost in the form of pollution, emissions, soil degradation and a loss of biodiversity. Cheap attire is also often manufactured in sweatshops where workers are paid just £3.50 an hour.

Some say we are exaggerating the problems of buying new. After all, fast fashion actually only accounts for 20% of the overall market in clothing. And some sustainable brands are creating new clothes with record low emissions.

Likewise, buying second-hand is no guarantee of sustainability. Donated clothes are often shipped to many different corners of the world before being sold to vintage and thrift brands, where the globe-trotting garments are found by consumers convinced that a new second-hand t-shirt will keep their carbon footprint small.

Nor does it ultimately solve the problem of overconsumption. As half a million people post their #ThriftHauls on Instagram, buying dozens of new items to wear once or twice, we might surmise that second-hand fashion is feeding the dragon of overconsumption, not slaying it.

Yes: Buying new clothes might seem cheap, but the costs are huge for our planet. The fashion industry generates more emissions than aviation and shipping. In buying new, you are selling your (and our) future on Earth.

No: For people with lower incomes it is important to have cheap and convenient fast fashion options. And for people who have the money, there are more sustainable brands that still allow you to buy new.

Or... It is unethical to buy - full stop. All spending incurs a cost, and to minimise it we need to stop overconsuming. Spending money on second-hand clothes is not a guarantee of ethics.

Gen Z - Short for Generation Z, meaning people born in the late 1990s and early 2000s.