Hence, the oxymoronic investment thesis behind fashion group Dolls Kill that rebellion against the mass market has mass-market appeal.
But as the Atlantic’s Rachel Monroe noted: “The ultra-fast fashion brands have designed a shopping experience that makes the consumer feel as if the clothes magically appear out of nowhere, with easy purchasing and near-immediate delivery.”
With Americans buying an item of clothing every five days and social media encouraging people to look as polished as movie stars, whether at the gym or at home, then demand for fashion remains strong.
Last summer, private equity firm General Atlantic acquired a 21% stake in UK-based Gymshark for an undisclosed sum but one that valued the fitness label at more than £1bn ($1.4bn) even when gyms were closed due to the covid-19 pandemic.
But fashion’s environmental costs are high at 4% of carbon emissions and 20% of wastewater. This is why startups, such as Anne-Marie Tomchak’s ShareJoy, are trying to leverage the circular economy in fashion and secondhand clothes retailers, such as RealReal, Vestiaire, Vinted and ThredUp, have raised hundreds of millions of dollars beyond the search for new company successes, such as Dolls Kill.
At the start of the month alone, Condé Nast and Kering joined new and returning investors to back a $235m round valuing the fashion item resale platform Vestiaire Collective in excess of $1bn.
Given that global production of new clothes doubled between 2000 and 2015, with 60% disposed each year, according to McKinsey, then it might be time to dust off and repurpose the old adage that where there is muck, there is brass.
Corporate-backed deals in fashion, apparel and accessories from 2011 to 2021
Data as of February 25, 2021
