A 20-plus year veteran of the fashion industry, Sean Barron launched RE/DONE in 2014 with the simple idea of taking the old and making it new again. Upcycling in this way – deconstructing vintage Levi’s jeans and reshaping them into modern fits – was the first of its kind in pivoting luxury fashion toward sustainability. To date, RE/DONE has upcycled over 110,000 pairs of Levi’s. Barron joins CFDA and Recurate this week for our Earth Month programming as a leading brand in the circularity space.
How did RE/DONE get into the recommence/resale market and what has the response been to RE/SELL?
As leaders in fashion’s sustainability and upcycling movement, RE/SELL is the cogent next step in our evolving mission to become the most responsible version of ourselves. Beyond saving water, energy, and preventing excessive carbon emissions via upcycling and recycling, we wanted to take measures to ensure that our RE/DONE pieces stayed in circulation as long as possible and were not discarded to create more waste. Our clothes are purposefully designed to stand the test of time, making them ideal pieces to be resold. We are beyond excited about extending their lives and, ultimately, pushing the fashion industry toward a more circular future.
Can you take us through the process of how you operate RE/SELL?
The RE/SELL process is uniquely simple: a seller submits photos, descriptions, and desired prices of their pre-loved RE/DONE pieces to be carefully vetted by our team. Once approved, the product is listed on the RE/SELL landing page, buyable in the same way as any other product on the website. Regardless of where a piece was originally purchased, it can be resold here. This is all enabled through our partner, Recurate. RE/SELL will give 80 percent of the sale back to the seller for store credit, a significantly higher percentage than most resale platforms. We are so happy to share that for launch, 5 percent of sales will be donated to the incredible Sheltersuit, a non-profit organization providing shelter and outerwear for the homeless made from upcycled materials. This money will help distribute Sheltersuits amongst our local Downtown LA community. The remaining revenue will go to running of the platform.
Do you think recommence is an easy sustainable initiative that brands can implement? What were some of the challenges you faced while launching RE/SELL?
As with anything, there’s always challenges that occur when bringing something new to the market. It has been a journey with the backend logistics of it all, but we’re so happy to be one of the first brands to engage in resale in this way. The peer-to-peer selling and shipping makes it both easy and difficult for us to operate the program. Because of this, RE/SELL will only be available for U.S.-based customers at launch, but we’re hoping to expand it internationally looking forward. We think resale is an absolutely necessary initiative for us to take on – and hopefully, for more fashion brands moving forward – to better take care of our people and planet.
Can you define the difference between repurposing vintage pieces versus upcycled garments?
We distinguish our Marketplace assortment as repurposed vintage and our one-of-a-kind reconstructed pieces made from vintage clothing as upcycled garments. Our RE/DONE Marketplace is our curation of rare vintage collectibles that inspire the brand’s heritage-focused design and decades-oriented ethos, bringing them back in a new context. We’ve collected everything from unique Levi’s sourced from mines across the U.S. to rare first-edition books to timeless Americana jewelry sourced by our favorite local Rose Bowl vendor. With our upcycled pieces, our team sources the best vintage pieces from rag houses across California; then, we take them apart at the seams and reconstruct them into modern fits. This happens with everything from pre-loved Levi’s to dresses pieced together from an assortment of 13 vintage bandanas.
What is the future of circularity for RE/DONE – are there any new launches/initiatives/company goals you can share?
We have some really exciting initiatives brewing in our circularity journey, and I absolutely cannot wait for them to launch. Coming up in Season 3, 2021, we have a few pieces that are 100 percent circular, which is going to be a super important focus for us moving forward. Additionally, and I cannot name names yet, we’re hoping to engage in a few more heritage-focused partnerships that are made 100 percent responsibly and circularly – no waste is the goal. With everything new we do, we want to be forward-thinking and taking the necessary steps to ensure that we are creating with community and environment in mind.
Join CFDA and Recurate’s Circularity Webinar Series by registering below:
A Fashion Brand’s Journey to Circularity
April 9, 12:00 – 1:00 PM EDT
Leading Brands – Register here
April 15, 12:00 – 1:00 PM EDT
Leading Innovators – Register here
