LONDON — The Boohoo-owned fast-fashion e-tailer PrettyLittleThing is venturing into secondhand trading with the launch of an online marketplace that allows users to sell used items from PrettyLittleThing and elsewhere later this year.
Molly-Mae Hague, U.K. and EU creative director of PrettyLittleThing since last August, revealed in an interview with WWD that the marketplace will first exist in the form of an app.
“We’ve been working on it now for over a year and I’ll be one of the first people to display how to use it,” said the 22-year-old British television personality and fashion influencer, who will become one of the first “top sellers” on the marketplace, selling her old garments with proceeds going to charity.
“This platform encourages sustainability and encourages people to shop for pre-loved and recycled pieces. It’s something that no one’s gonna expect PrettyLittleThing to do, which we’re really, really excited to launch,” Hague said.
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“There is so much in my wardrobe at home that I don’t wear anymore. Stuff that people can’t get hold of. I still get messages saying ‘I’m desperate for this blazer.’ People now will have the second opportunity to shop for those things that they can’t get anymore,” she added.
A spokesperson from PrettyLittleThing explained that the pre-owned trading platform will sync up with the user’s PrettyLittleThing order history so that when one is reselling the item from the brand, all the info and images of the product will be automatically pulled. The marketplace also allows users to sell items from other brands with their own imagery as well.
The seller can ship the product internationally if they wish to do so, and the seller and buyer will be able to chat directly on messenger within the app, the spokesperson added.
It’s understood that PrettyLittleThing has begun internal testing last week, and the service will first roll out in the U.K. in the coming May, and hopefully become available in the U.S. and other markets around September or October.
It’s not surprising that PrettyLittleThing is entering resale. Following accusations of poor labor practices and lack of health and safety regulations, both PrettyLittleThing and its parent company Boohoo Group are taking their steps toward transparency and more sustainable and ethical production.
Boohoo Group shared in its first sustainability plan, released last year, that it aims to “launch resale and recycling offers across our brands” by 2023.
“Building on the work we’ve done to divert textile waste in our own operations from landfill, we’re extending this to our U.K. supply chain. We’re also committed to developing different ways for customers to recycle their garments and investigating resale platforms to keep clothes in use for longer,” it added.
Speaking of dealing with controversy, Hague has also learned to look at things on the bright side. Due to her “Love Island” fame, the British tabloids constantly put on a microscope lens to ridicule every aspect of her life.
“Of course, in life, they always will talk about negative things and try and shine a light on that. But for all the negative press out there, there’s always something 10 times more positive. I would love to convert the press to talk about positive things and to focus on the things that are elevating me and elevating PrettyLittleThing,” she said.
With the latest collection under her creative direction to be revealed with a fashion show in central London on Wednesday night, Hague said it’s much more “elevated” than any of the projects she has done with the brand before.
“It’s really different. It looks very high-end and I think we want to give our customer the opportunity to shop those looks — that London city girl wardrobe — on a budget, because obviously, our customer has a budget,” she added.
The PrettyLittleThing x Molly-Mae collection will be instantly available after the show and offers pieces in sizes from UK4 to UK30.
Her contract with PrettyLittleThing will expire in August, but Hague believes that given how fruitful the partnership has been in the past six months, she doesn’t see “why it won’t continue.”
“This fashion show is going to show everyone what we’re doing in my role, which I’m really excited about. There’s been a lot of unanswered questions, and this catwalk will display exactly what I’ve been doing the last six months because it’s taken that long to plan it,” she said.
When asked about whether she would embark on a career in luxury fashion, like Chiara Ferragni joining Tod’s board, or Evangelie Smyrniotaki landing top job at Sergio Rossi, in the future, Hague said she is not sure where she will be yet. But the experience she earned from working with “the best of the best in that Manchester office” at PrettyLittleThing will for sure be “truly useful” for her future projects.
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