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Tommy Hilfiger is pushing further into the resale market through a new partnership with Gen Z favourite Depop, as it seeks to tap into the climate-conscious shopper.
Under the deal, the PVH-owned brand will offload items from its consumer take-back programme as well as damaged pieces from its retail stores, wholesale and e-commerce channels, via the official Tommy Hilfiger Depop page. Each item will be cleaned and repaired, according to the company. Items will span the US brand’s inclusive size range of XXS-3XL.
This is not Tommy Hilfiger’s first experiment with circularity. In August, it partnered with online resale platform Thredup to allow US customers to send their unwanted clothing from any brand in exchange for Tommy Hilfiger shopping credit. Last year, it partnered with UK-based rental platform Rotaro for a six-month pilot programme, to give Rotaro’s “youthful community” access to Tommy Jeans and an assortment of archive pieces.
The partnership is an example of how brands are figuring out what to do with the clothing they collect in their take-back programmes. While lauded for being part of a circular business model, take-back programmes can be difficult to execute if there’s no pipeline for used clothing to not end up as waste once it’s collected. Tommy Hilfiger has a long-term goal of becoming “fully circular” by 2030 through resale, repair, rework and rental, the company says.
This new strategy partnership is also a continuation of Tommy Hilfiger’s efforts to boost its presence among Gen Z consumers. A report by Depop and Bain & Company found that 75 per cent of its Gen Z users buy secondhand in order to reduce consumption. The report also found that 60 per cent of Depop users say their purchasing decisions are influenced by a company’s commitments to reduce its carbon footprint. Depop says the Tommy Hilfiger brand “has taken off” on the site as it fits with the “core 2000s and 1990s trend that we see doing well on the platform”.
“The collection has been carefully curated to drive brand desire among Depop’s community and allows us to engage with new audiences who want to enjoy our pieces in ways other than buying new,” a statement from Esther Verburg, EVP of sustainable business and innovation, Tommy Hilfiger Global and PVH Europe, reads.
“Launching our first UK resale programme with Depop is an exciting and important step on our journey towards becoming a circular brand,” Verburg adds.
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