Zara Boosts Fashion Circularity With Repair & Resale Platform in UK

By Joshua Kirby

Major fashion retailer Zara will offer new repair, resale and donation services for it stores in the United Kingdom as it aims to reduce textile waste and consumption, it said Friday.
The brand, owned by Spain’s Industria de Diseno Textil SA, or Inditex, will integrate the sustainability-focused services on a platform, Zara Pre-Owned, available at stores, online and on its mobile app.

Through the platform, Zara customers can request repairs to any garments bought from the brand, including replacements for zippers and buttons and seam repairs. Customers will also be able to resell Zara clothes to other customers through a secure process hosted on the platform.
Customers will meanwhile be able to request that items of any brand be collected from their homes for donation to the Red Cross charity. This adds to existing containers for donation across the U.K., Zara said.
“Through this platform, customers will be able to make more sustainable decisions with regards to their used clothing and will contribute to the reduction of waste and the consumption of new raw materials,” Zara said.
Inditex, which owns brands including Bershka and Pull & Bear as well as Zara, has stepped up its sustainability initiatives this year, agreeing in May a three-year deal to buy recycled fiber from Finnish biotech firm Infinited Fiber Company for a price of more than 100 million euros ($97.9 million.)
Over the summer, the company said it is investing an undisclosed sum in U.S.-based recycling start-up CIRC, along with a Bill Gates-backed investment network and fellow fashion firm Patagonia.
Write to Joshua Kirby at joshua.kirby@wsj.com; @joshualeokirby