Madewell teams up with ThredUp for second-hand denim platform

US denim brand Madewell has launched a new second-hand fashion platform with the help of resale giant ThredUp.

The new platform, called ‘Madewell Forever’, harnesses ThredUp’s resale-as-a-service (RaaS) to give preloved women’s jeans a new lease of life. Launched on Tuesday, the platform currently has over 3,000 products, with new styles added hourly as available. Prices range from 35 dollars to 50 dollars.

So how does it work? Customers will be able to bring any brand of pre-worn jeans into Madewell stores and earn 20 dollars towards a full-priced pair of Madewell jeans.

Collected items are sent to ThredUp to sort and determine what can be re-sold, either through its own platform or - if women’s Madewell denim - via select Madewell stores and the new ‘Madewell Forever’ site.

Unsellable denim will be recycled through approved programs such as Cotton’s Blue Jeans Go Green program.

Through the platform, Madewell said it aims to collect one million pairs of denim by 2023 - double what it has collected in the past six years through its existing denim trade-in program.

Madewell, owned by J.Crew Group, is the latest in a long list of big-name fashion brands and retailers to announce tie-ups with ThredUp as they look to explore the fast-growing resale space.

Over the past two years, San Francisco-based ThredUp has secured partnerships with the likes of Vera Bradley, Abercrombie & Fitch, Reebok and Rent the Runway.

But this will be the first time one of ThredUp’s RaaS clients has launched a 360-resale platform that allows their customers to both clean out their closets and shop for second-hand fashion.

Madewell said it worked closely with ThredUp to develop a “unique, white-labeled resale channel including a digital shop”, which it said was “the first of its kind enabled by ThredUp’s RaaS program”.

J.Crew Group CEO Libby Wadle said she hopes the launch will “set a new standard for the fashion industry” and encourage other companies to “join us in finding circular solutions that reduce retail’s environmental impact”.

“It’s exciting to see a beloved brand like Madewell working to extend the life of their clothes and commit to a more circular fashion future,” commented ThredUp co-founder and CEO James Reinhart. “We are proud ThredUp’s operating platform will enable and scale a meaningful resale channel for Madewell through ‘Madewell Forever’.”