TheRealReal partners with MyTheresa

The RealReal is celebrating its fifth annual National Consignment Day. The day was founded to raise awareness for sustainability in fashion and to drive shoppers to participate in the circular economy. Fashion is one of the top polluting industries, contributing 10 percent of the world’s total carbon footprint. Clothing production has approximately doubled in the last 15 years to 80 billion garments per year. A garbage truck’s worth of textiles is landfilled or burned every second, even though 95 percent of trashed clothes could be re-worn, recycled, or reused.

“It’s time to get real about the future of fashion. If the industry continues its current trajectory, its share of the world’s carbon footprint could jump to 26 percent by 2050 and it will miss the 1.5-degree pathway laid out by the Paris Climate Accord by more than 50 percent,” said Julie Wainwright, founder and CEO of The RealReal, in a statement. “Recirculating just one in five items would put the industry on track to achieve that goal. Consigning is something everyone can do to make a difference. We’re making it easier than ever to join the circular fashion movement and it couldn’t come at a more critical time for the health of the planet.”

The RealReal has launched four new circular initiatives including expanding luxury consignment to additional categories including sports and outdoor gear, collectibles, and electronics, increasing selling flexibility with Buy Up Front, giving consignors more choice for how they want to sell their items, whether it be consignment, trade, or getting paid instantly for items they recirculate, launching Circular ReSource Lab to create solutions to the fashion waste crisis, and finally, teaming up with MyTheresa to drive recirculation in the U.S.

Mytheresa will reward both its customer and The RealReal’s with shopping credit for recirculating their bags and supporting the circular economy.

“We are excited about the opportunity to be part of The RealReal’s consignment community. We strongly believe that it is important for us to strengthen circularity as part of the fashion ecosystem and to offer something special to our customer base in the U.S.,” said Heather Kaminetsky, Mytheresa president of North America, in a statement.