Used clothing refurbisher The Renewal Workshop recently partnered with New Balance for the brand’s “New Balance Renewed” program.
Designed to give a second life to New Balance’s apparel, specifically imperfect or returned items, items included in the program range in price from $15 to $120 and are available now on The Renewal Workshop’s e-commerce website. Featured items include New Balance knit training jackets, shirts, shorts, pullovers and performance wear for men and women.
“New Balance is constantly learning and evolving our approach to create quality, long-lasting design,” said John Stokes, director of global sustainability at New Balance. “In April 2021, The Renewal Workshop led a workshop during New Balance’s Design Week to help educate designers how to intentionally design future apparel for repairability and garment recycling.”
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New Balance describes a “holistic approach to climate change,” with several focus areas, one being circularity. By increasing product longevity, collaborations such as this latest one with The Renewal Workshop are said to encourage customers to drive change alongside the brand.
Each renewed item’s impact is measured to illustrate the tangible difference consumers can make by purchasing a New Balance Renewed product, with each piece bearing badges on its product page.
Through The Renewal Workshop’s proprietary six-stage, zero-waste process — referred to as “The Renewal System” — garments are sorted, graded, thoroughly cleaned, repaired to like-new standards, inspected and signed off by both New Balance and The Renewal Workshop before being put up for sale.
This process is repeated for The Renewal Workshop’s stable of brand partners, among them Prana, Mara Hoffman, Lo & Sons and Carhartt. The company’s cofounder Nicole Bassett said the recent partnership with New Balance helps to further realize expansion plans. “We look forward to seeing New Balance Renewed become a driver of renewing products and to helping New Balance launch re-commerce in the athletic wear sector,” she said.
And as Bassett noted, the partnership could also signal more interest from athletic brands.
Resale movement in athletic wear may continue to ramp up, as in April, athletic apparel and accessories player Lululemon launched its white-glove resale partnership with Trove, a re-commerce service provider.