Farfetch publishes second conscious luxury trends report

The online fashion platform, Farfetch, unveils it’s second conscious luxury trends report. According to the report, which finds that the number of its consumers who purchased a product from its conscious collection climbed 60% year on year in 2021.

France had the greatest increase in conscious buying on Farfetch, with a 149% year-on-year increase in gross merchandise volume (GMV) from conscious items, while South Korea saw the biggest increase in pre-owned spend per item (ASP), up 116% year-on-year.

According to the report, which examines how luxury consumers interact with conscious products, including pre-owned and circular services on Farfetch, customers are continuing to shop more consciously, and brands and boutiques on the platform are responding to rising consumer demand by consolidating and increasing their commitments to improve their impact on people, planet, and animals.

Farfetch currently offers 220 brands rated well by Good On You, an increase of 13% year on year, and the number of conscious items on the platform supplied through its network of boutiques increased by 40%, with GMV from conscious products from boutique partners increasing by 46%.

Farfetch also adds that its customers desire to be more responsible, as searches for conscious product phrases on Farfetch surged by 93% year on year, and sales of conscious items increased 1.8 times faster than the marketplace average through 2021. Brands that score well on Good On You and are recognized as totally aware by Farfetch account for 49 percent of GMV from conscious items, up 52% year on year.

Customers on Farfetch are also focusing on buying quality pieces with longevity in mind, with 79% saying they are now buying a bigger proportion of luxury apparel because they feel it is more sustainable than fast fashion, being of higher quality and lasting longer.

Pre-owned luxury is also gaining in popularity and drawing high-value buyers, with 20% of survey respondents purchasing a pre-owned fashion item in the previous year. Views of pre-owned products increased by 150% year on year, with Farfetch’s highest-spending private client and platinum clients accounting for 65% of pre-owned GMV.

Farfetch also says that its circular fashion projects are “attracting new and important consumers” who want to extend the life of their things. 22% of poll respondents said they had begun selling fashion goods they no longer use in the previous 12 months, 20 percent said they have given a used fashion item in the recent year, and 13% said they have not.

Thomas Berry, senior director of sustainable business at Farfetch, said that as the platform for luxury, they have a unique vision drawn from over 3 million active consumers and over 1,400 luxury retailers on the marketplace. According to the statistics, customer demand for more mindful and circular methods of engaging with fashion is growing, and companies are reacting to the potential that this trend brings. In keeping with our Positively Farfetch goal, we hope the insights in this year’s study assist our partners and the broader industry in continuing to think, act, and select positively.