Sustainable & Circular Fashion — 2026-09-29

This Week's Top Stories

H&M's Secondhand Bet Sellpy Still Loses Money After 12 Years

H&M's resale unit Sellpy remains unprofitable twelve years after launch, and an RBC analyst has warned that resale could actually eat into H&M's new-clothing sales rather than complement them. The story is a reality check for brands betting on recommerce as a profit center — and a signal that circular business models still need workable unit economics, not just good intentions.

Fashion Discovery Is Being Reshaped by New Platforms

This autumn, a wave of new marketplaces, platforms and physical retail experiences — including ShopMy, Mile and TikTok-driven shopping — is changing how consumers discover and buy fashion, including in the luxury resale space. For circular fashion, this means resale discovery is no longer confined to traditional resale apps.

Resale & Secondhand Market

• Reselling has become a full-time career for many. Research from AI-powered resale marketplace Fleek finds that 28% of resellers sell secondhand clothes full-time, with a further third actively working to turn their side hustle into a career; Vinted is the most popular platform among them.

• Preloved clothing marketplace set to "boom." World Wide Market Reports has published new research on the Global Preloved Clothing Marketplace Market covering 2026–2033, evaluating market size, growth potential and competitive dynamics across players including Depop, Poshmark and ThredUp.

• Cross-listing infrastructure keeps expanding. FLUF announced Kijiji — Canada's leading classifieds site — is now available on FLUF Connect, letting secondhand sellers reach another major marketplace from one tool.

Brand Spotlight

Sellpy (H&M Group)

• What they're doing: Operating H&M's secondhand marketplace, a 12-year-old resale platform designed to extend garment life and circularize the company's business model.
• Why it stands out: It's one of the longest-running big-brand resale bets — and its persistent unprofitability, flagged by an RBC analyst, offers a rare honest look at the economics of brand-run resale rather than polished marketing claims.
• Impact: Still losing money after 12 years, with analysts warning resale may cannibalize new-clothing sales.

Materials & Innovation

No verified developments published within the past 7 days are available for this section.

What to Watch

• Whether H&M restructures or doubles down on Sellpy following analyst criticism of its economics
• Growth of professionalized reselling — the trend toward full-time, multi-platform sellers — as marketplaces add cross-listing and seller tools
• The Global Preloved Clothing Marketplace Market report's 2026–2033 forecasts, which could shape investment flows into resale firms
• Vinted's growing dominance among resellers and its continued push into the US market