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When luxury resale and consignment platform The RealReal first opened bricks-and-mortar stores in 2017, the team received valuable face-to-face feedback from some of its customers. They loved its offering of secondhand handbags, shoes and accessories, but none of the clothes fit.
“I heard it more than once in our stores,” recalls head of merchandising Sasha Skoda. “We started looking at the data, and demand for plus-size garments outpaced supply. I didn’t realise we had this huge audience we weren’t catering to at that time.”
There is mixed information about the average women’s dress size but some research places the UK average at a size 16 and US at size 16-18 (UK 18-20 equivalent). Currently, the most common sizing resold via TheRealReal is a medium, which is roughly a US 6-8 and a UK 10-12. That’s something they’re now hoping to change by working with plus-size retailer 11 Honoré to democratise access to size-inclusive luxury on the secondhand market — a partnership that’s been in the works since before the pandemic.
The idea is to incentivise more plus-size customers to trade in their clothes. Any consumer who consigns a garment XL or larger with The RealReal will be offered a 30 per cent discount for 11 Honoré, the LA-based plus-size online retailer founded in 2017 that works with high end brands to expand their size ranges. No minimum value is required for the items, but they do have to meet condition criteria and be one of The RealReal’s accepted designers — the company says it won’t accept fast fashion items, for instance, as they aren’t made to last. The partnership is slated to run for six months with the possibility to extend.
The companies say they want to shift fast fashion purchases to secondhand luxury or investment pieces. “There is a misconception in the plus-size [sector] that if you’re a certain size you’re not going to be that size forever, so you’re going to buy an inexpensive option,” says 11 Honoré founder Patrick Herning. 11 Honoré wants plus-size consumers to invest in a piece for the size they are, which they can then tailor when necessary, he adds. “We’ve always stood for an opportunity to provide a quality of clothing that is rare in the plus-size industry.” Experts say that for plus-size garments, longevity is determined not only by the quality of the materials and construction but also the way the garment fits on plus-size bodies.
Marielle Elizabeth, a writer and creator who focuses on making slow fashion easier for plus-size consumers, notes that fast fashion brands have historically offered more sizes than premium brands. Today, plus-size consumers are no longer short of options that are ethically made, high quality and trendy — but those options are often significantly more expensive. Switching from fast fashion to sometimes more expensive secondhand luxury can be a hard sell, and retailers should be aware of the systemic disadvantages the plus-size community faces. “Within the plus-size community there is a subset desperate for plus-size luxury, but we also have to realise that the general plus-size population is getting paid less than their straight size counterparts. There is an extra financial barrier for being able to make this leap from fast fashion into luxury or ethical or sustainable fashion,” says Elizabeth. Another barrier is that many resale platforms have stricter returns policies. (The RealReal allows customers to return within 21 days of in-store purchase or original shipment date, but often peer-to-peer platforms don’t allow returns at all.)
Accessibility isn’t just about price point, either. It can include making the search function easy to navigate with filter options that make it easier to search for specific sizes within the plus-size category, targeted marketing campaigns, and partnerships with plus-size community leaders, says Elizabeth. “You’re approaching a demographic that has probably already looked at your [platform], not seen themselves represented there and left. So, it’s about figuring out how to re-invite the plus-size community because it’s not the first time we’ve heard about secondhand, however, if the last time we looked there was nothing for us, why would we keep looking?”
While the discount incentive is meant to get people to shop more responsibly, the strategy has been criticised by sustainability experts. “I’m always going to be for any attempts to encourage the plus-size community to feel wanted and needed in ethical and sustainable fashion, but I think we have to be careful of programmes that encourage shopping for brand new clothing as a way to incentivise someone to try to shift their wardrobe [choices],” says Elizabeth. “Fundamentally as a culture we have to stop trying to buy our way out of the climate crisis, because I don’t think long-term it’s going to work.”
“[Discounting] can potentially encourage overbuying and tarnish the value of the garment in the eyes of a consumer, reducing its longevity and circulation within their wardrobe,” adds Kayla Marci, market analyst at retail decision intelligence company Edited. “Retailers allowing customers to sell back old garments for credit to spend on something new, [can fuel] overconsumption. While brands need to make a profit, there is an opportunity to better support a circular economy by exploring options for customers to shop for pre-loved goods instead of new, or receive a service like rental or repair.”
The RealReal says its circular partnerships generally include some form of incentive to promote higher quality purchases that are likely to have a longer life cycle. “With these partnerships and incentives, we’re giving customers a reason to try out resale; we’re comfortable doing this with luxury partners like 11 Honoré who already design and produce well-made items that can easily be recirculated time and again on the secondary market. This is a key element of the circular economy, you cannot extend the life of poorly made garments,” says James Rogers, director of sustainability at The RealReal.
Connecting with this consumer base is key for 11 Honoré and The RealReal. “For us, this is an incredible customer acquisition opportunity,” says 11 Honoré’s Herning. The goal is for 11 Honoré’s customers to pour luxury plus-size goods into The RealReal’s marketplace, building brand awareness for each company while expanding the plus-size options on the secondhand platform.
11 Honoré is continuing to work with brands in the primary market to incentivise size expansions, too. “It’s about creating a new process flow. If we start with optionality from the designer side, there’s availability for the consumer and then the opportunity to know that you can make this investment now and if your size does change you have the opportunity to resell it to another consumer, and take that opportunity to buy a new piece,” says Herning. “So, it’s creating an entirely new retail experience through the lens of the secondary market that fundamentally hasn’t existed before.”
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