Degrading working conditions, exploitation, social injustice and the pollution of our planet on a large scale are not exactly unknown factors that make the fashion industry one of the greatest threats to our ecosystem. Fortunately, alternatives are constantly being found to make the fashion industry more sustainable. These include, for example, the development of innovative natural substances, Fashion platforms that focus on renting clothes and trends like Vintage aging and recently closet cleanouts often for a good cause. We explain what this is all about and whether this trend has the power to change the fashion industry.
Closet Cleanout: What’s behind the trend
"Turning old into new" is the motto of clearing out and reselling your own closet. In fact, many people have cleared out their wardrobe at some point in their lives. Sorting out is not necessarily the trend behind closet cleanouts, but rather the reselling of old fashionable items. A large part of the population is aware of the effect that the fashion industry has on our environment and for this reason second-hand and vintage clothing is becoming increasingly popular. Vestiaire Collective even states that the resale market is growing between 20 and 30 percent annually.
Auch Celebrities are jumping on the closet cleanout trend, cleaning out thoroughly and then selling on – sometimes for a good cause. Actress Chloë Sevigny hosted one of the most successful closet cleanouts last year, which was even dubbed the “sale of the century”. It-girls like influencer Xenia Adonts and stylists Monikh Dale and Alex Rivière are giving their old clothes the chance to find a new home and are putting their old Favorite pieces on Vestiaire Collective ready for sale. This exclusivity on fashion pieces from particularly fashionable women offers a chance for change in the fashion industry. This is also demonstrated by the model Toni Garrn.
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Cleaning out the closet for a good cause – Toni Garrn gives vintage fashion a new vision
The German is leading the way and has been organizing events since 2016 where the proceeds from the sold pieces are given to charitable organizations. Designer pieces that once belonged to Gigi Hadid or Camille Charierre have found a place on superfleamarket.org since 2023. Discarded clothes from her "Famous Friends" are resold here and 90 percent of the proceeds help NGOs such as “Re:wild”, “All Hands and Hearts” and the Toni Garrn Foundationto make the world a little better. It is precisely the history of different pieces that makes reselling them so exciting. After all, who can say that their designer bag has already been worn by Gigi Hadid?
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Closet cleanouts as an integral part of circular fashion
Women in Germany buy an average of 60 items of clothing per year and never wear 40% of them. Much ends up on Textile waste dumps in the global south such as the Atacama Desert. Through initiatives such as Toni Garrn's Super Flea Market, circularity can be brought to the masses more easily. Clothes that are no longer worn or for which there is no longer a suitable occasion are saved from a quick end in our throwaway culture, are given a new purpose and sometimes even do something for a good cause.
In the end, this is exactly the idea that is needed to change the fashion industry. Away from new purchases in the form of fast fashion, to giving already loved pieces a new future. Closet cleanouts with the intention of passing them on promote the model of circular fashion. The fact that prominent personalities are now also focusing on giving their old clothes a new life shows above all that there is potential for change. Stars and starlets have often contributed to trends which were later found everywhere.
