What happens to the clothes that arent good enough to resell?

With so many shoppers wanting to reduce their carbon footprint, resale is currently booming. But, not everything can be successfully sold on the secondhand market – some pieces are too worn to be passed down, and this leaves them at risk of being dumped into landfill. It is this exact problem that new business Vintage Threads is aiming to solve.

The concept is simple – the talented seamstresses rework tired designer and streetwear pieces into something completely different and actually desirable, meaning they won’t end up in landfill, and they will continue to be used. Battered Gucci luggage can be reworked into a statement jacket or a Fendi trench coat can be reimagined into a fun two-piece.

"When we were first building our vision for Vintage Threads, we always felt we didn’t want to simply be just a vintage clothing retailer,” co-founder Freddie Rose – who launched the business alongside Charlie Oxley – told us.

"Reworking can play such a crucial role in driving the industry to a more sustainable model. While we will always do our best to rescue as many clothes from landfill as we can through our vintage collections, we found increasingly that we were there amazing pieces and beautiful materials that we couldn’t sell due to their condition but could create something out of them."

A Fendi trench coat reworked into a two-piece

Reworking is all about minimising as much newness as possible, without sacrificing style, he explains. "It offers a fantastic option to further reduce how many clothes we are sending to landfill every year. It’s also a great challenge to brands around the world to look at their landfill waste and ask themselves if they can find other ways to use materials, as this needs to become the last possible option for clothing and, eventually, not an option at all."

When it comes to sustainable fashion more generally, transparency is key to moving the industry forward, Rose argues. With that in mind, brands need to take responsibility and be honest with themselves about the impact their marketing is having on consumers.

"The fashion industry is already making some positive changes and bringing about a more conscious mindset, however, there is always a risk of greenwashing. There needs to be greater transparency with what brands are doing with their surplus stock. Brands need to take a lot more responsibility for how they are driving over-consumption among consumers and driving the mindset of always needing new clothes."

And, although there is an onus on brands, the real change comes from the top. "I’d love to see government intervention as it’s an issue that isn’t simply going to go away," he says."Huge changes need to be made at the top level to ensure change happens at the rate it needs to."

Vintage Threads inside Selfridges

Rose cites the French government as leading by example. They recently introduced a repair bonus scheme (through which customers can claim money back on their clothing repairs), and he is hoping that something similar will take place here in the UK too. But, of course, big change only happens with external pressure, so the power begins with us shoppers.

"There has never been a better time to be an eco-conscious shopper," he says. "I would advise consumers to challenge themselves if they need a piece of clothing. Perhaps they could repair an element of it or rework it to achieve that feeling of newness. A more circular fashion model has to be an ambition among all of us."

What’s next for Vintage Threads? "From a day-to-day perspective, our ambition is always to get better every day, to keep changing perceptions of vintage and reworked clothing, to help drive the fashion industry to a more sustainable and circular model. We’d love to have Vintage Threads stores in the top 10 major cities worldwide, we know it’s ambitious, but if we can maintain the same customer experience we have now, then we have a lot to offer in cities around the world."

Vintage Threads – which has made pieces for the likes of Adriana Grande and Emma Chamberlain – has its own store in London's Covent Garden, and has recently opened up a concession in Selfridges, which you can visit now.

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