Abercrombie & Fitch Co., a global specialty retailer of apparel and accessories, today announced it has partnered with thredUP, the world’s largest fashion resale marketplace. This partnership allows customers to send in their clothing for gift cards to be redeemed at Abercrombie & Fitch, abercrombie kids, Hollister and Gilly Hicks. A&F Co. is thredUP’s latest Resale-as-a-Service (RAAS) cleanout distribution partner.

“This partnership with thredUP supports our long-term journey to embed sustainability throughout our organization,” said Fran Horowitz, CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. “Sustainability is integral to our success, and it’s increasingly important to our customers. This collaboration not only helps reduce textile waste, but it also offers our customers a convenient way to do good, something we know they are eager to do.”

A&F Co. customers in the U.S. can now request a thredUP clean out kit or download a prepaid shipping label at www.thredup.com/abercrombie or www.thredup.com/hollister to send any brand of like-new women’s or children’s clothing to thredUP. Once the garments are received and processed by thredUP, customers will earn Abercrombie & Fitch or Hollister gift cards — ultimately gaining credit for future purchases while keeping clothes out of landfills. In 2019, thredUP upcycled its 100 millionth item, displacing an estimated 870K tons of carbon dioxide equivalents — the equivalent of 74,000 road trips around the world.

“thredUP’s Resale-as-a-Service platform was built with consumers and forward-thinking retailers in mind,” said James Reinhart, cofounder and CEO of thredUP. “We are excited to add Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister to our portfolio of brand partnerships, and we look forward to delivering this convenient, sustainable service to their customers.”

A&F Co.’s partnership with thredUP also supports the retailer’s commitment to the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), the world’s largest corporate citizenship and sustainability initiative. A&F Co. joined the UNGC in 2019, and recently submitted its first annual communication on progress towards its long-term social and environmental sustainability goals. The thredUP collaboration aligns with numbers 12 and 17 of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, which encourage responsible consumption and production and building partnerships that support the goals, respectively.

Source: Textile World