The fast-fashion vs sustainable fashion debate is nothing new, but what if pre-owned fashion companies were also now great for your investment portfolio as well as for the environment?

With a year in lockdown, we’ve apparently had time on our hands to clear out wardrobes and part with items that no longer “spark joy”.  The variety of pre-owned reseller platforms means there is a substantial marketplace for us to buy and sell our fashion.

Combine this with the ever-growing sustainability push across all industries, the purchase of second hand clothes is good for our planet as well as our wallets.

Not all of the platforms are profitable, but since when has profit got in the way of a good tech investment?  Analysts expect the pre-owned fashion space to grow by 20% a year for the next 5 years as a minimum.

One of the more prominent platforms is Vestiaire Collective, with a great feature where you can set email alerts letting you know when a particular item you are looking for is listed.  Another is Depop where you can often find bargains from high-end designer labels.

Poshmark and Thredup both had promising US stock market debuts earlier this year, as well as Lithuanian-born Vinted being valued at over €3.5B.

It’s easy to see why these companies are doing well, a force for good as well as solid commercial performance.

Would you invest in them?