To cut back on waste and extend the average life of clothing, Scandinavian fashion brand Samsøe Samsøe has launched an innovation that simplifies the process of reselling clothes and encourages more people to do so with items from its own collection.
Fashion is one of the world’s most polluting industries, responsible for an estimated 10% of global carbon emissions and producing large quantities of waste. The problem seems to be getting worse, since the average use of a clothing item has decreased by more than 85% since 2002, according to Euromonitor. Meanwhile 33% of shoppers perceive a piece of clothing as “old” after only three wears, and $500 billion is lost each year because of under-wearing, Greenpeace estimates.
Samsøe Samsøe’s Resell Tag is a QR code built within its clothing that helps people resell the items later. Once scanned with a smartphone, the tag activates a series of digital actions that are meant to save time and remove some of the hassle of reselling clothes online.
The tag is connected to Meta’s marketplace on Facebook and Instagram and automatically mocks up an ad based on data points from the piece of clothing, such as its style, size, colour and age. It also auto generates images and copy describing the clothes.
After the user previews the ad and inserts their desired price, the listing is automatically published on Meta’s marketplace.
Becoming a more sustainable brand
The Resell Tag is now available on eight different styles in Samsøe Samsøe’s collection and will roll out to a wider range of items over the coming year.
“The life cycle of our products is a central part of becoming a more responsible brand and the Resell Tag is an integral part of that journey,” Samsøe Samsøe CEO Peter Sextus explained in a statement.
“When you think of reselling clothes, most of us are stopped by the process of doing so. The Resell Tag solves a very real problem and could become the solution for the fashion industry,” added Lars Samuelsen, creative chairman and chief strategy officer of Uncle Grey.
