The figures speak for themselves: Zalando’s turnover last year was USD 278.6 million, making it the most successful online store in Denmark. Followed by fast-fashion retailers such as H&M and Shein in the top 5, the first-hand market can be seen as the most successful when it comes to sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Picture by Elena Nieberle: Handmade clothes in sustainable stores in Copenhagen<\/p><\/div>\n
In spite of that, when we talk about the customer level, economic factors are only one part of the picture. The decisive factor is also which preferences are present in the mindset in consumer behavior. After all, the famous expressions such as ‘Hygge’ for the ‘pleasant’ and ‘relaxed’, but also ‘decelerated’ life do not come from anywhere. Scandinavians, particularly Danes, are considered environmentally aware, as evidenced by their embrace of minimalistic lifestyles and the cultural philosophies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
In terms of fashion, this means that anyone walking around Copenhagen will quickly realise that the city has one second-hand shop after another. Research indicates that people in Denmark are more likely to consider buying second-hand clothing compared to other EU countries. The local first-hand shops – including big names such as Ganni, Baum and Pferdgarten – also seem to put a lot of emphasis on sustainability. And so does Copenhagen Fashion Week. The second hand stores in the Danish capital have mainly some certain points in common: They have a well-curated option of clothing pieces, partly handmade, partly designer pieces with correspondingly high prices. The contradiction if the fashion city is also noticeable in the cityscape, because apart from all the small sustainable second-hand boutiques, are huge advertising campaigns for fast fashion providers such as H&M, which dangle from the walls of high-rise buildings.<\/p>\n
What is left to ask is if buying Second Hand really is a more or even the most sustainable option of clothing consumption. Prof. Dr. Jochen Str\u00e4hle, international fashion management specialist and Dean and Senator at Reutlingen University thinks that \u201eSecond Hand has its positive impact on sustainability, if I just replace one-by-one, so if I really reduce one new product by one Second Hand. But all the studies we conducted at Reutlingen University show that it does not happen. In reality the overall consumption rate is at least 1.3 until double of the amount\u201c.<\/span><\/p>\n\nPicture by Elena Nieberle: Second Hand stores in Copenhagen<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The fashion week in Copenhagen (CHFW) is being claimed as the \u201emost sustainable in the world\u201c.\u00a0 At the same time, Zalando – which has faced several allegations about its supply chain policies – is this year’s main sponsor of the CHFW and last year’s most successful online clothing company in Denmark. This possible contradiction also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3250,"featured_media":10735,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cbj","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
The Clash of Choices: Zalando vs. Second-Hand Fashion in sustainable Copenhagen - International Journalism<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n