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“My absolute goal was unequivocally—and with serious intent—to be a fashion buyer...and my first job was selling cheese," Anne Pitcher, Global Managing Director of Selfridges Group, told Forbes in September. "I couldn't really persuade anyone to put me in the fashion department."

The interview centered on Pitcher being honored with the coveted, annual Veuve Cliquot Bold Woman Award. First established as the Business Woman Award in 1872, the prize is the first and longest-running international award in its category.

Before the COVID pandemic, climate change headed her priorities for Selfridges, explains Pitcher.

"During the last ten years we have looked closely at our supply chain, our materials and the products we sell. We refreshed our thinking around reinventing the resale model, and I think the launch of Project Earth was an opportunity to call out 'let's change the way we shop and embrace the emerging business models that do business in the right in the right way."

Selfridges ‘Project Earth’ initiative: “Let’s Change the Way We Shop.”

Selfridges hopes to change their customers’ chopping habits, values and expectations of the store in three ways: 1) by addressing the sustainability materials used in products sold in Selfridges stores; 2) by exploring and testing new retail models such as repair and resell, and 3) by changing mindsets through sustainability-focused dialogue with teams inside and outside the company, as well as with customers.

“Selfridges is the first luxury department store to set tough material requirements as part of their commitment to a science-based Scope 3 carbon reduction target in goods and services,” writes a Project Earth press release.

Underpinning Project Earth is a broader commitment to Science Based Targets and to achieve Net-zero carbon by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement.

Alannah Weston, Selfridges Group Chairman and daughter of Selfridges founder and chairman Galen Weston, says:

“Since Project Ocean in 2011, Selfridges has been focused on changing mindsets around sustainability both inside our industry and in conversation with our customer. Out of the global pandemic has come an understanding of how fragile and complex our systems are, but also how our planet and people can benefit if we act collectively with a shared purpose. Now more than ever we must double down on our efforts to reinvent retail with sustainability at its heart and a way of working which is regenerative for humans and nature. Achieving our ambitions won’t be easy, but we are in a unique position to be able to work with our team members, partners and customers to co-create change and explore possibilities for a sustainable future.”

How To Spend It: Va-va vintage — the rise and rise of resale

HTPI dives into the burgeoning resale market, noting that the pre-loved market is not only getting a second look, but is expected to be worth $50bn by 2023. Alexander Fury zeroes in on Vestiaire Collective, but touches the full range of resale market online options.

Drilling down further, the market in so-called “vintage” pieces less than 20 years old — often sitting in designer brand warehouses as never-worn luxury — is very hot. “There’s a ferocious market for items from Nicolas Ghesquière’s 2000s tenure at Balenciaga”. Called “contemporary vintage”, these desirable, guilt-free (except for shipping, of course) items are “rare, desirable and sell for thousands of pounds.”

If the sustainability focus is to change our over-consumption mentality, the pursuit of vintage from every era may not end the voracious appetite for newness and pursuing the unique.

Fanny Moizant, another co-founder and now president of Vestiaire Collective, describes our current time as “the end of ownership”. “I remember my mum buying a leather coat – and it was an investment,” Moizant tells Fury. “I think the fast-fashion industry and social media totally changed that.”

Dash over to HTSI Magazine for an up close and personal look at their curated vintage shopping favs, featuring model Sara Grace Wallerstedt. Tamara Rothstein styles ‘Head to Toe Vintage’ for images by Sean and Seng. also on their IG. / Hair by Shon; makeup by Anne Sophie