Green consumerism is fashioning growth in Asia's resale clothing market

AFFLUENT Asian parents have always wanted to dress their kids in clothes from quality brands. That hasn't changed - but other attitudes are shifting. Motivated by environmental concerns more than the desire for a bargain, consumers in the region are starting to overcome a longstanding insistence on buying only new clothes and are purchasing resale clothes online.

The global resale clothing market is forecast to more than double to US$64 billion in sales by 2025. As the change in Asian consumer preferences that we are already seeing picks up momentum, so too will the mainstreaming of resale globally. That will hasten the end of fast fashion, bringing us one step closer to a circular economy for clothing.

As the mother of two young kids, I know how quickly children outgrow clothes. On average, a child speeds through seven sizes before they are three and more than seventeen hundred items of clothing before adulthood. That equates to a lot of shopping, a lot of spending and - often - a lot of clothes being thrown away after being worn only a few times. Sound familiar?