The Importance of Buying Secondhand – to You, to Us, and to Them

The Importance of Buying Secondhand – to You, to Us, and to Them

We are no fortune tellers, but fashion’s future is past. How come? This paradox may seem strange, but once you are familiar with sustainability and its positive outtakes to society, it is most likely that you will spice up their styles while keeping this in mind. According to WGSN, a study published by IBM in 2022 revealed that the importance of sustainability is only growing for consumers. In the survey, 51% of respondents stated that it is more important today than a year ago.

What Makes People Care

The cause of worldwide fashion production increase is due to the constant changing of trends and disposable fabrics which makes us buy the same bag every single time because they will eventually wear out. Sustainability is not only related to Nature, for Nature cannot be separated from Culture. Therefore, significant events such as the COVID-19 pandemic made people review their financial priorities and obliged the brands to readjust themselves to customers’ cravings.

Besides REIcon’s very wish to be environmentally friendly, our take on the importance of buying secondhand bags also goes against companies taking illegal risks when it comes to forced or inadequate labor. For example, nine out of 10 fashion workers interviewed in Bangladesh, who supply major brands in Australia and Vietnam, cannot afford food for themselves or medical treatments when they get sick or injured. Other aspects, like lack of running water, are cited in a 2019 report by Oxfam called Made in Poverty – The True Price of Fashion. 

Materials, Workforce, and more

The bags presented to you by REIcon are thoroughly constructed by workers who receive a better salary and workplace conditions. Also, these bags can be made with high-quality fabrics and materials, such as leather, that have been used for over 4,000 years. The Burberry Patent Leather Quilted Beaton Bag and Gucci Ophidia, available at REIcon, are the epitome of leather’s good use in fashion. 

In some years, adopting the latest fashion trends could mean actively fighting global warming. At least that's what Post Carbon Lab proposes, a London startup that won the Kering sustainability award. Their experiments, which include the creation of other types of leather, enable the fashion industry to have a negative carbon footprint using a material made from seaweed that continues to live, carrying out photosynthesis and converting CO2 into O2. 

However, unlike other synthetic products used to make bags, leather is a natural material. That is, its production doesn’t pollute the environment with chemicals used while producing a synthetic or faux bag. During the manufacturing process, leather is a natural material that does not employ harmful chemicals, making it an environmentally friendly product. Leather options have become popular for vegan people, for instance, but buying a natural leather product secondhand means that the production chain will decrease its pollution as well.

Durability is a strong keyword when talking about leather. Western countries are accustomed to extremely low prices, hence the Frenesi of buying the same old bag from fast fashion retail. As SANVT Journal tells us, this behavior results in 40% of fashion items remaining unworn and landing in garbage in 3 years. Leather bags can be seen as a useful alternative to not filling your wardrobe with pieces that have an expiration date. Hence, buying a secondhand leather bag is a lot better than buying a synthetic piece, that ought to wear out, peel, deform, or wrinkle in some areas. Pieces such as the Balenciaga City Bag, the Christian Dior Medium Diorissimo Tote Bag, as well as our Louis Vuitton Archive, are products that will last a lifetime and provide you with a touch of icon that never goes out of style. 

Our Differentials 

To us, the importance of buying secondhand lies beneath the fact of the values shared by the company owners. Our main goal is to encourage the community to “reicon” pre-owned items, prospecting a more sustainable environment. Furthermore, such sustainability also relies on the exclusive experience we bestow. Even though your bag once belonged to someone else, your purchase was handed by cost-effective workers, and your bag was made by a well-paying job. Needless to say, sustainability also aids eco-friendly efforts by ending a cycle of waste and disposability culture in fashion. These are our beliefs –to be iconic is to be a conscious consumption mastermind. 

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