// PrettyLittleThing (PLT) creative director Molly-Mae Hague told Retail Gazette it will launch a marketplace where shoppers can sell pre-worn clothing from any brand
// The PLT Marketplace, which will launch as an app first, is designed to encourage shoppers to move away from throwaway fashion
PrettyLittleThing will launch a Depop-style marketplace later this year for shoppers to resell pre-worn clothing as it strives to move away from throwaway fashion.
The online retailer, which has faced criticism in the past for fuelling throwaway culture, will allow customers to sell products from any brand, from Gucci to Asos, PrettyLittleThing UK and European creative director Molly-Mae Hague told Retail Gazette.
Hague, who was named as creative director of the brand last year, said the move would help drive sustainability with its young shoppers.
She said: “It’s not going to be just PLT pieces – you can sell pretty much anything on there, which is obviously encouraging sustainability hugely. It’s encouraging girls to think ‘this is actually in really great condition I don’t need to chuck it away why not encourage someone else to buy it’.”
Hague said the brand had been working on the launch for months and it had potential to “really disrupt the fashion industry”. Pretty Little Thing could not give an exact date for the app’s launch, but said it would make its debut in the UK before being rolled out to the US in the latter half of the year.
PrettyLittleThing has been criticised in the past for contributing to the fashion industry’s landfill problem. During Black Friday 2020, the brand caused controversy by offering products at up to a 99% discount, with dresses sold for as little as 8p.
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Sustainability has become a bigger factor for young shoppers, which has led to the rise of Depop, a peer-to-peer platform where people sell pre-worn clothing.
The London-based marketplace, often branded Gen Z’s favourite shopping app, was set up in 2011 and now has more than 30 million customers. In 2020, Depop’s last reported financial year, sales jumped 101% to £535.7m.
Many PrettyLittleThing shoppers are already reselling its products and the brand is very popular on Depop. There are currently more than 150,000 search results for PLT, and more than 120,000 for PrettyLittleThing, on Depop.
Hague plans to take a lead in promoting PrettyLittleThing’s marketplace when it launches and will put a selection of her own clothes on sale, with the proceeds going to charity.
“I’ve got hundreds of PLT pieces…it will be great to encourage people to buy them off me,” she said.
Read more about Molly-Mae’s plans to overhaul PLT’s throwaway fashion reputation here.
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