Pioneering the Cost-per-Wear Metric with Vestiaire Collective
Vestiaire Collective’s Cost-per-Wear is More Economical than Fast Fashion
As fast fashion accelerates consumerism and environmental degradation, Vestiaire Collective, in partnership with Vaayu, is championing a shift towards more sustainable fashion through the innovative cost-per-wear metric.
Tackling the Global Problem of Fast Fashion
With more than half of fast fashion disposed of in under a year (Ellen MacArthur), Vestiaire Collective is on a mission to find an alternative to overconsumption, overproduction and the industry's wasteful practices.
The marketplace had already banned 63 fast fashion brands from its platform since 2022 and announced a three-year plan, refined with an expert committee in 2023. We then worked with the Vestiaire Collective team on its next steps, exposing the true cost of fast fashion. Using Vaayu’s data, we helped position the long-term affordability of pre-loved luxury items versus fast fashion using the pioneering cost-per-wear metric.
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Calculating Cost-per-Wear Using Data from 13.4K Consumer Insights and 250K Vestiaire Collective Transactions
To accurately determine the cost-per-wear of items sold on Vestiaire Collective, Vaayu’s in-house LCA team developed a detailed methodology using transaction data and metrics calculated leveraging consumer insights from quantitative and qualitative surveys and research.
Cost-per-wear itself was computed by subtracting the resale value from the purchase price of an item and dividing it by the total number of times the item was worn. This calculation was further enhanced by the qualitative insights from in-depth interviews with both internal Vestiaire Collective users and an external panel, covering key categories such as clothing, accessories, bags, shoes, and jewelry.
We engaged participants from both Vestiaire Collective’s user base and the general public across the US, UK, France, Italy, and Germany, gathering comprehensive data from a diverse group consisting of 2,080 external shoppers, 5,620 Vestiaire Collective sellers, and 5,630 Vestiaire Collective buyers.
Participants provided insights on the number of wears for clothing items, as well as the purchase price and resale value of new and pre-loved items. This information was cross-verified with established literature values and scaled using Kria, Vaayu’s proprietary Impact Modeling Engine and database. Our analysis included over 250,000 transactions over a 12-month period, allowing Vaayu to calculate the price delta and integrate real-world usage patterns into our study.
This comprehensive approach not only ensured a robust primary dataset but also provided a nuanced understanding of consumer behavior through this first-of-its-kind investigation, supporting more informed sustainability practices in fashion.
Pioneering the Cost-per-Wear Metric to Change Consumer Habits
Our analysis revealed that fast fashion items were worn less on average, kept for less time, and had a lower resale value. Across all categories and all price points, pre-loved curated fashion pieces offer around a 33% lower cost-per-wear compared to fast fashion items, which are worn more than twice less on average.
Alongside Vestiaire Collective, we proved that investing in high-value, higher-quality items is the smarter choice to save money, with preloved shoes alone saving nearly 50% compared to their fast fashion counterparts.
Shoppers play a crucial role in combating climate change, and through our collaboration, they gain insights into the true cost of their purchases. Together, we’re empowering them to choose pre-loved items, extend the lifespan of clothing and significantly reduce their wardrobe’s footprint, all while spending less money.
We surveyed 13.4K fashion buyers, both Vestiaire Collective shoppers and externally
Comprehensive information from 250K Vestiaire Collective purchases was used for the calculations
Cost-per-wear demonstrated that shopping preloved is 33% more affordable long-term than brand new fast fashion
This new data and novel metric for defining value in clothing and accessories is a big step for an industry with a key focus on affordability. This work is a major stepping stone for improving consumer awareness and changing shopping attitudes for good, switching to habits that help lower retail’s impact on the planet.