by Steven Bethell’s mother wanted him to go to law school; instead, he has built a second-hand clothing empire that started the youth shopping earthquake – and is trying to revolutionize the creation of new textiles and clothing.
About 30 years ago, Canadian and his wife, Helene Carter-Bethell, founded Bank & Vogue, a group that now buys clothes from about 300 charities in the US and finds a new home for 4m items a week in more than 30 country around the world.
One of those countries is the UK, where, in 2002, the group took over the vintage fashion business Beyond Retro, which sells around half a million garments a year. After opening in Cardiff this summer, it now has seven stores in the UK, taking the total to 17 worldwide with plans for two more next year. Online store launched in 2010.
The group paved the way for the websites Depop and Vinted, which convinced young shoppers to seek out second-hand goods as an alternative to fast fashion.
Wearing a 10-gallon hat with a natty jacket and shirt, Bethell is enthusiastic about the future of second-hand shopping, which is booming in the UK and elsewhere.
“I think there’s a category shift, in terms of sensitivity and understanding of the environment, that you can’t go back from. You can’t care that the planet is on fire,” he says.
The evidence is that young people are interested in second-hand clothes, not only because they can find bargains and more interesting pieces, but because they are concerned about the sustainability of the fashion industry, which further contributes to the climate emergency is the aviation and shipping industries. combined. If trends continue, it could account for a quarter of the world’s carbon budget by 2050.
The global second-hand market is expected to grow by 66% over the next four years to $351bn, according to a recent report by US re-use website ThredUp well ahead of the general fashion market, as shoppers look to save cash and be more sustainable.
“Everybody who has a party thinks that the party will last but the nice thing about trends is that all the trends are gone. [in recent years],” says Bethell, who now lives off the grid on a farm in Ontario protected by stone lions.
“We’re a little more trend-proof than corduroy. We are evolving. Beyond Retro has produced more than 20 years [that it] able to reflect the trends of the day through the youth.”
While Beyond Retro faces serious competition from serious online venues, it sees the likes of Vinted, eBay and Depop as allies, not rivals. “Depop and Vinted are not my enemy. My enemy is fast fashion and people who treat fashion like lettuce,” he says.
So keen to tackle the craze of fast fashion, Bethell agreed to meet Kourtney Kardashian, appearing for “about four seconds” on her TV show to demonstrate the virtues of recycled fashion and advise on her collection. capsules by Boohoo. Bethell isn’t sure if his attempt has had any effect on Kardashian’s millions of followers on social media but says he’s “proud to be trying”. To date, Bank & Vogue claim to have saved 500,000 tonnes of product from landfill. The group has a facility in India that sorts, grades and processes textile waste for recycling and reuse. It aims to divert more than 680,000 tonnes by 2025.
Beyond Retro takes a small portion of fashionable items – what Bethell calls “pixie dust” – and sells them in its 17 stores or online.
Of the rest, about 40% is sold to Latin America for resale and reuse and more is sold to “grading houses”, which sell a large amount to African countries for resale. About a fifth is cut for “cleaning cloth” in various industries and about another fifth is shredded for use in items such as mattresses and car doors.
Bethell is working to change that model. “Right now, we can sell everything. The real question is: ‘Can you move up the evolutionary ladder?’ Instead of stripping and insulating car doors, can you make a component of clothing?”
Today, less than 1% of the clothes worn around the world are recycled back into clothing but Bethell is looking for ways to increase that.
Since 2017, Bank & Vogue has also been working with Converse to provide ready-made components, cut from unwanted clothing such as floral dresses and plaid shirts, which the footwear brand uses to create new pairs of shoes.
The idea of every grandmother is to use material that already exists. Our best future is looking to the past
Steven Bethell
Last year, the group launched Beyond Remade – which takes parts of used clothes that can’t be sold and upcycles them into glamorous new clothes, including skirts, jackets, bags and dungarees.
Bethell says the project is “really about us showing brands that we can make luxury out of post-consumer content”, and is working on new brand collaborations expected to be announced next year.
“The idea of using existing materials is what every grandmother did, making quilts out of scrap fabric. Our best future is to look to the past,” he says.
Finding ways to recycle fabric that can’t be made into new items is at the top of her to-do list.
In 2020, Bank & Vogue signed a contract with Swedish chemical textile recycler Renewcell under which it supplies 30,000 tonnes a year of used jeans – mostly US plus-size jeans, which are difficult to resell – to be turned into cellulose for yarn new. Other denim is being sent out to be shredded into material that can be turned directly into fiber.
However, such innovation faces many challenges in a global market hit by cost pressures as the cost-of-living crisis strains household spending power, although manufacturers are unwilling to move from the yarns they know. .
Demand for yarn has fallen due to a global slowdown in clothing sales and Renewcell recently scaled back production amid scarce orders. While he says there is strong demand from brands, some of whom have invested in the company, uptake by fiber manufacturers who could spin their recycled cellulose pulp into viscose-like yarns is falling amid a virgin viscose boom at reach the market.
“We have proven that circularity in textiles is not only possible, but here now … Brands need to step up and buy the fiber,” says Bethell.
“This is hard work but I think it’s worth it,” he says, noting that some second-hand sellers and recyclers struggle to make money, while Beyond Retro and Bank & Vogue make a profit.
“My job is to say that we started a journey. I have been reselling for 20 years. We are showing that you can have longevity.”
He says: “I want to be like the Greeks, and before they became citizens they had to promise to leave a better place on the planet.”
CV
Family Married, two children, four grandchildren.
Education BA in political studies.
Pay N/A
Last holiday The Bahamas.
The best advice he has been given “Every day, figure out how to delight your customer.”
Biggest career mistakee Putting all his eggs in one basket.
A word he uses too much “F**k”.
How to relax Farming and moving rocks.
