France consumes more new fashion than ever amid transition to circularity

Purchases of new clothing, footwear and household linen reached a record high in France in 2024, with an average of 42 items per person, the organisation Refashion revealed at a press conference on Tuesday.

In 2024, 3.5 billion new pieces were purchased, or 10 million per day, Vanessa Gutierrez, head of studies at Refashion, the body tasked by the government with supporting the fashion industry towards a more circular economy, told AFP.

Of these 3.5 billion new pieces, 2.9 billion were clothing items, 259 million were pairs of shoes and 362 million were household linen items.

To develop this overview, Refashion analysed the data that must be provided by the nearly 10,000 brands selling textiles in France, including Asian platforms such as Shein and Temu.

On average, in 2024, each French person bought 42 new garments, one more than in 2023 (plus 2.4 percent), Refashion detailed.

Following the ‘inflationary pressure’ of 2023, household budgets eased, which explains this recovery in textile and footwear consumption, according to Gutierrez.

Womenswear and menswear increased (plus 5 percent and plus 3.6 percent, respectively), but the category that experienced the largest increase was household linen (plus 9.3 percent), which is explained by "the arrival on the market of players with accessible prices", according to Gutierrez, without naming brands.

The children’s and babywear sections declined (minus 0.6 percent and minus 5.4 percent, respectively) due to the falling birth rate and, undoubtedly, the shift by consumers towards pre-loved fashion in this sector.

Consumers opted for companies that sell exclusively online (Zalando, Shein, etc.), which recorded plus 29.9 percent sales in volume, as well as discount and clearance stores (plus 10.3 percent).

"If we excluded these two categories, the market would remain relatively stable," Gutierrez noted.

Hypermarkets suffered a 5.1 percent drop in their textile sales, but high street chains and shopping centres fared well, with plus 2.8 percent.

Accessible prices were prioritised, as 71 percent of the items purchased were entry-level.

Market research firm Kantar and Refashion also conducted a study on pre-loved fashion, which in 2023 reached over 63,500 tonnes, or 7.1 percent of global textile and footwear consumption in France.

Over a third of French people are customers and four percent declare themselves to be exclusive buyers of pre-loved items.

The preferred channels remain peer-to-peer purchases (Vinted, Leboncoin, flea markets and car boot sales, etc.), which represent 46 percent of sales, followed by the social and solidarity economy sector (Red Cross, Emmaüs, etc.), with 33 percent, and companies selling to individuals (second-hand shops, corners in shops, etc.), with 21 percent.(AFP)