Day 64: What does Ikea’s secondhand marketplace have to do with sustainable fashion?

8/27/2024

Day 64: What does Ikea’s secondhand marketplace have to do with sustainable fashion?

Sustainable fashion is more than just about clothes — it’s about creating a lifestyle that embraces reusability, durability and minimal waste across all aspects of life. That’s why it’s good news that Ikea, the Swedish furniture giant is launching its own second-hand online marketplace: Ikea Preowned.

As covered in this blog previously, fast decor isn’t as high profile an issue as fast fashion but there’s a similar cycle of consumption and discarding of furniture and homewares. So any step to encourage people to buy secondhand should help to make furnishing our homes a more eco-friendly process.

With environmental concerns growing around the disposable nature of cheap furniture, Ikea’s initiative could lead to more durable, longer-lasting products and a reduced carbon footprint.

The company has had some scandals in the past related to its environmental impact; most of them relating to the sourcing of the wood it uses.

Currently being trialled in Madrid and Oslo, Ikea Preowned is set to roll out globally by December, giving customers the opportunity to buy and sell second-hand Ikea items directly on the platform, bypassing the need for external websites like eBay or Gumtree.

This particularly struck home for me because when I first bought a flat, I furnished it mainly from Ikea. Those items (except for a few I sold to the buyer when I moved) are now 10 years old. I’ve since moved into a bigger place, and complemented my Ikea furniture with secondhand pieces. I actually really like the Ikea aesthetic.

And I’m by no means the only one. The popularity of second-hand Ikea furniture is undeniable — just search for “Ikea” on any resale site like Craigslist, eBay, or Facebook Marketplace, and you’ll find tens of thousands of listings.

By promoting the reuse of their products, the company will hopefully ensure that fewer items end up in landfills, reducing waste and plastic pollution — problems that have plagued the furniture industry for years. Any kind of secondhand initiative like this should extend the life of items, whether it’s a sofa, bookshelf, or kitchen table, and ultimately moves us closer to a circular economy, where products are reused, repaired, and recycled.

What does this mean for fashion? Sustainable fashion isn’t just confined to what you wear — it’s about creating an environment where everything from the clothes on your back to the furniture in your home reflects a more mindful, eco-friendly lifestyle.

Everything I wore on Day 64 of the 90 days of Shein challenge: