PARIS — Reinforcing its bet on the secondhand market, H&M Group has taken a majority stake in Swedish retailer Sellpy with plans to expand it internationally, starting with Germany.
The fast-fashion retail giant, which first took a minority holding in the secondhand seller in 2015, has now become majority owner with a stake of around 70 percent.
“Sellpy has a unique circular business model, which perfectly aligns with H&M Group’s vision to become fully circular,” Nanna Andersen, who heads H&M’s investment arm Co:Lab, said in a statement.
The move comes as changing shopping habits and rising demands for more consideration of the environment force the fashion industry to readjust decades-old business models. H&M last year made public plans to use only recycled or other so-called sustainably sourced materials by 2030, and only sustainable cotton by 2020 — even if it doesn’t know how it will get there.
Fast-fashion players, known for churning out inexpensive clothing at breakneck speed, are under particular scrutiny for their part in choking landfills with discarded clothing.
“Secondhand is one of the fastest-growing business sectors within the fashion industry….It is a business opportunity H&M Group wants to be a part of exploring,” the company said.
Sellpy, which sells everything from Zara coats
H&M Buys Majority Stake in Secondhand Platform Sellpy
Image Courtesy of FOCKE STRANGMANN/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
