New Circular Economy Emerging

For years, the circular economy has been defined narrowly as a sustainability initiative to keep products out of landfills and extend their life by recycling, repairing or donating them.

Essentially, it was focused on what happened to a clothing item after the owner was through with it, the final loop at the end of its useful lifecycle.

But that definition is expanding, as Richard Honiball and Deborah Patton write in “The Great Realignment” from The Robin Report. “For a century, the retail model was a straight line—make, sell, use and discard—but we are reaching the end of the linear era.”

“A fundamental shift is occurring in the psychology of consumption: the circular mandate,” they argue, as consumers no longer consider themselves the final owners of a product, but as stewards in an extended cycle of use. “This isn’t just a sustainability trend—it is a structural revolution in how brands redefine growth and lifetime value.”

This new circular economy model is evolving into a value system, not just a way to reduce waste at the end of the linear economy. It starts at the point of purchase with consumers buying with future resale in mind—60% of consumers said resale value is a key factor when buying a new apparel item, up double-digits from just a year ago. And 39% of consumers are encouraged to buy new items if they know it’s resale value will remain high.

Under the new circular economy, primary and residual value circulates throughout the fashion ecosystem in a continuous loop. ThredUp’s survey found that half of younger consumers have reduced their purchases of low-quality apparel because it holds little secondary value. And 52% of Gen Z and Millennial consumers have tried to resell more than half of their closets to recapture their purchase power and potentially put it back into the fashion ecosystem.

Stewarding The Brand Throughout The Product Lifecycle

“The narrative that new is better is being replaced by better lasts longer,” Honiball and Patton wrote. This has implications not just for sell-through in the primary market, but in the after-market, as well. They point to branded resale platforms, such as Eileen Fisher Renew, Patagonia’s Worn Wear and Arc’teryx’s ReBird, where brands take back product, repair it and sell it on, issuing credit to the original buyers that keeps them in the brands’ loop.

“In this new model, a single jacket can generate revenue three or four times over its lifetime. The brand is no longer the manufacturer; it is a service provider maintaining a fleet of assets,” they continue, noting that just as consumers are shifting from owner to steward, brands need to adopt the stewardship mindset as well.

“By moving from ownership to stewardship, brands aren’t just protecting the planet; they are building a deeper multigenerational bond with the consumer. The transaction is no longer the end of the relationship—it’s just the beginning of a mutual contract that drives both circularity and deep-rooted brand loyalty,” they explain.

Brands Aren’t Ready For The Stewardship Shift

However, ThredUp finds that while fashion brands recognize the need to bring resale into their branded ecosystem, rather than leave it to third parties, most are lagging behind in execution. Nearly 60% of the 50 fashion brands surveyed said the lack of a branded resale presence creates a “permanent structural disadvantage,” and 42% said the biggest risk of not scaling resale is losing Gen Z and Millennial market share.

“Trade-in programs are no longer a brand ‘perk.’ They are the new baseline,” said Alon Rotem, chief strategy officer at ThredUp. “Resale has officially moved from a sustainability experiment to a primary level for customer acquisition and long-term relevance.”

Of the fashion brands surveyed, only 16% said their organizations were ready to scale resale immediately, with 38% reporting that logistics and operational shortfalls are preventing them from scaling.

This makes third-party Resale-as-a-Service (RaaS) partners the best solution for some 32% of retailers. The leading RaaS providers include ThredUp (partners including J. Crew, Madewell, Athleta, Reformation, Tommy Hilfiger, American Eagle), Trove (Patagonia, Levi’s, Canada Goose) and Archive (Hanna Andersson, Lululemon).

Resale Value Gives Permission To Buy

While ThredUp’s consumer survey found that inflation boosted the secondhand market last year and made consumers think twice about new purchases, a similar dynamic is emerging about among high-income luxury shoppers—average $365,000 household income—according to new research from the Affluent Consumer Research Company, a firm with which I have a relationship.

But for this financially empowered segment, economic headwinds are not the cause of their hesitation. “The new scarcest currency in luxury isn’t money. It’s permission—the internal clearance a consumer grants themselves before a purchase is allowed to happen,” ACRC founder Chandler Mount said.

Their move toward making slower, more considered purchases signals an affluent behavioral shift. “‘Buying fewer, expecting more,’” is not a slogan, but a majority view,” Mount reports. “This introduces a new friction into the market: regret anxiety. Luxury is no longer judged only on desirability—but on whether it will still deserve space in a future life.”

While the ACRC survey did not ask about consigning luxury goods back into the secondary market, Mount concluded that resale is now part of the luxury ecosystem, with 22% of those surveyed purchasing a pre-owned luxury item in the past year.

Resale also functions as a confidence signal. Some 40% of luxury consumers said that seeing a brand appear on resale platforms assures its enduring quality. And one in four said that a brand-managed resale program increases their confidence in buying both new and secondhand.

Resale Becomes Core In The Fashion Ecosystem

In both the mass and luxury market, resale has become an integral part of the fashion ecosystem. It now plays a part at the very beginning of the customer journey, often being the first-place shoppers look. And potential resale value helps justify a new purchase—giving consumers the permission and confidence they need to buy.

Resale is no longer a side channel in fashion, but a cohesive part of the ecosystem that feeds the entire industry flywheel. In the past, resale was where products went to end their life. Now it’s where brands prove they deserve a place in the future.

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