Steven Bethell’s mother wanted him to go to law school; instead, he built a second-hand clothing empire that sparked a shopping earthquake among young people – and is now trying to revolutionize the creation of new fabrics and clothing.
About three decades ago, the Canadian and his wife Helene Carter-Bethell founded Bank & Vogue, a group that now buys clothing from about 300 charities in the U.S. and finds new homes for 4 million items a week in more than 30 countries. around the world.
One of those countries is Great Britain, where in 2002 the group acquired the vintage fashion store Beyond Retro, which sells approximately half a million garments per year. After opening in Cardiff this summer, it now has seven stores in the UK, bringing the total to seventeen worldwide, with plans for two more next year. An online store launched in 2010.
The group paved the way for websites like Depop and Vinted, which have persuaded many younger shoppers to look for second-hand items as an alternative to fast fashion.
Wearing what appears to be a 10-gallon hat, along with a nice jacket and shirt, Bethell is excited about the future of thrift shopping, which is booming in Britain and elsewhere.
“I think there is a category shift, in sensitivity and understanding of the environment, that you can’t move on from. You don’t care if the planet is on fire,” he says.
The evidence is that young people love second-hand clothes, not just because they can find bargains and more interesting pieces, but because they are concerned about the sustainability of the fashion industry, which is contributing more to the climate crisis than the airline industry. and shipping industry. combined. If trends continue, this could account for a quarter of the world’s carbon budget by 2050.
The global second-hand market is expected to grow 66% to $351 billion over the next four years alone, according to a recent report from US reuse website ThredUp, well ahead of the general fashion market, as consumers look to save money and be more sustainable.
“Everyone who throws a party thinks the party will last, but the nice thing about trends is that the trends are all second-hand. [in recent years]” says Bethell, who now lives off-grid on a farm in Ontario guarded by stone lions.
“We are a bit more trend-proof than corduroy. We evolve. Beyond Retro has been proving this for over 20 years [that it] can reflect the trends of the day in the youth.”
While Beyond Retro faces stiff competition from pure online marketplaces, it sees companies like Vinted, eBay and Depop as allies, not rivals. “My enemy is not Depop and Vinted. My enemy is fast fashion and people who treat fashion like lettuce,” he says.
He’s so eager to take on the behemoth of fast fashion that Bethell agreed to meet with Kourtney Kardashian, where she appeared on her TV show for “about four seconds” to expound on the virtues of recycled fashion and offer advice about her capsule collection with Boohoo. Bethell isn’t sure his efforts have had any effect on Kardashian’s millions of followers on social media, but says he’s “proud that I’m trying.” To date, Bank & Vogue claims to have saved 500,000 tons of product from landfill. The group has a factory in India where textile waste is sorted, sorted and processed for recycling and reuse. The goal is to remove more than 680,000 tons by 2025.
Beyond Retro takes a small sample of the trendy items – what Bethell calls the “pixie dust” – and sells them in its 17 stores or online.
Of the remainder, about 40% is sold to Latin America for resale and reuse, and a larger portion is sold to grading houses, which resell much of it to African countries for resale. About a fifth is shredded for ‘cleaning cloths’ in various industries and another fifth is shredded for use in, for example, mattresses and car doors.
Bethell is working to change that model. “Right now we can sell anything. The question really is, “Can you move up the evolutionary ladder?” Instead of shredding and insulating car doors, can you make a part for a garment?”
Today, less than 1% of all clothing thrown away worldwide is recycled back into clothing, but Bethell is looking for ways to improve that even further.
Since 2017, Bank & Vogue has also partnered with Converse to provide ready-made components, cut from unwanted clothing such as floral dresses and plaid shirts, which the shoe brand uses to create new pairs of shoes.
The idea of using existing material is what every grandmother did. Our best future is looking to the past
Steven Bethel
Last year the group launched Beyond Remade, which recycles parts of unsellable used clothing into glamorous new garments, including skirts, jackets, bags and dungarees.
Bethell says the project is “really about showing brands that we can make luxury from post-consumer materials,” and he is working on new brand collaborations expected to be announced next year.
“The idea of using existing material is what every grandmother did: making quilts from scraps of fabric. Our best future is looking to the past,” he says.
Finding ways to recycle substances that can’t be made into new items is at the top of his to-do list.
In 2020, Bank & Vogue signed a deal with Swedish chemical textile recycler Renewcell, providing 30,000 tons of used jeans annually – mainly American plus-size jeans, which are difficult to resell – that can be converted into cellulose for new yarns. Other denim is shipped to be shredded into material that can be processed directly into fibers.
However, such innovation faces many challenges in a global market beset by cost pressures, as household purchasing power is squeezed by the cost of living crisis, while manufacturers are unwilling to part with the yarns they know.
A global slowdown in apparel sales has depressed demand for yarn, and Renewcell recently cut production due to lackluster orders. While there is said to be strong demand from brands, some of which have invested in the business, adoption by fiber manufacturers who could spin their recycled cellulose pulp into yarns such as viscose is lagging, while a wave of new viscose is coming to market.
“We and they have proven that circularity in textiles is not only possible, but here now… Brands need to step up and buy the fibers,” says Bethell.
“This is hard work, but I think it’s worth it,” he concludes, noting that several second-hand sellers and recyclers are finding it difficult to make money, while Beyond Retro and Bank & Vogue are turning a profit.
“My job is to say that we have started a journey. I have been in the resale business for 20 years. We show that it is possible to live a long life.”
He adds: “I want to be like the Greeks, where before they became citizens they had to promise to leave the planet a better place.”
CV
Family Married, two children, four grandchildren.
Education BA in Political Studies.
Pay N/A
Last holiday The Bahamas.
The best advice he’s received “Think every day how you can make your customer happy.”
Biggest career mistakee Putting all his eggs in one basket.
Word he uses too much “F**k”.
How he relaxes Farming and moving stones.