A Thoughtful Approach to Fashion – Exclusive interview with FARFETCH’s Global Director of Sustainable Business

A Thoughtful Approach to Fashion

FARFETCH’s Second Life programme is driving the pre-loved market to a new level. We spoke to Tom Berry, Global Director Sustainable Business at FARFETCH to find out how

IMAGE: JASON JEAN; COURTESY OF FARFETCH

WORDS: AMY SESSIONS

What is at the core of FARFETCH’s focus on sustainability as a business? FARFETCH is the platform for the luxury industry and as a platform we are inherently an enabler of others. For sustainability, we are focused on being a platform for good – enabling everyone we work with to think, act and choose positively. That’s why we call our strategy Positively FARFETCH. This breaks down to four key focus areas. Firstly, enabling ‘cleaner’, lower carbon, lower environmental impact operations for us and our partners. Secondly, enabling ‘conscious’ choices by championing products and brands that are independently recognised or certified as being better environmentally, socially, or from an animal welfare perspective. Thirdly, becoming a more ‘circular’, low waste business by better matching supply and demand and growing business lines that help extend the life of clothes. And finally, becoming an ‘inclusive’ leader, championing diversity and inclusion both within our workplace and in the fashion industry as a whole. Can you tell us more about FARFETCH’s Second Life programme and how this originated? Our 2020 Conscious Luxury Trends Report showed that more than half of our customers had bought or sold pre-owned in the last year. FARFETCH has been selling pre-owned fashion since 2010 but in 2019, we launched FARFETCH Second Life which is a service that enables our customers to re-sell items in their wardrobes that they no longer use or want. The service is live in over 30 countries across Europe, the Middle East and in the USA. The service is currently focused on hand-bags which is a key category for resale, but we plan to expand the service to other categories in the future. You also carry vintage and pre-loved pieces from your global marketplace partners. Is this something you’ve seen growth in globally in terms of ROI and of client interest? Industry estimates suggest the pre-owned category is growing three times faster than the primary market and we are seeing significant growth of our pre-owned category on FARFETCH. For us, pre-owned bags dominate, accounting for 63% of sales in 2020, but increasingly jewellery and watches provide a place for our consumers to invest. With COVID 19, we saw an increased demand for investment pieces that potentially hold or increase their value. How important is educating customers to drive sales for pre-loved items and do some Life (US & Europe, and Middle East) and donations programme FARFETCH Donate (UK and US), or extend the life of their favourite pieces with their FARFETCH Fix repair service. In 2021 we published FARFETCH’s first annual Conscious Luxury Trends Report, to help the industry understand and anticipate key trends, and updated the Fashion Footprint tool to help consumers make better buying decisions with more information on the environmental impacts of their choices. In 2020, we launched our Climate Conscious Delivery promise, where we have committed to offset the carbon impact of all of our delivery and returns of products ordered through the marketplace and from Browns. All of these efforts are in line with the company’s ambitious 2030 Sustainability Goals that we set out at the end of 2020. What has been the largest challenge to date since you joined and how did you overcome it? The biggest challenge of any sustainability programme is to establish and then maintain focus on the critical issues that the company can and should make progress on. Sustainability is a huge topic with many issues and agendas associated with it ranging from environmental impact to social justice and company governance. With Positively FARFETCH we laid out four key pillars of work and with our 2030 goals, we have outlined an ambitious set of goals, each with a clear measurable performance indicator. Maintaining focus and tracking our progress, both internally and externally (through our ESG report), is the key way we have moved forward. Last year was a time that saw brands change strategy. Have you had to pivot as a business? When our customers shop on FARFETCH, the items arrive from one of 1400+ boutiques or luxury retailers and brands, many altogether representing over 3000 designers – mostly small clients have a larger appetite for these pieces and unique creators of fashion. than others? Because of the FARFETCH More and more, customers are expectpre-owned curation – high end, hard to find ing their shopping experiences to be really pieces, with a focus on categories like hand- connected, whether they are shopping online bags, jewellery and watches – our pre-owned and/or in-store – this is where our Luxury customers tend to be higher tier customers New Retail strategy comes in. and the average order value is higher than our We’re reimagining the luxury retail expemainstream marketplace. Giving customers rience through the use of technology to create more information on pre-owned products seamless, connected customer journeys that is key. Being able to address what year the blend the best of online and physical shopping. product is from, what condition it is in and We have a vision for the evolution of luxhow we assure authenticity etc. are all impor- ury retail: to drive the transformation of the tant aspects to help build trust and loyalty. entire industry by creating a truly personal Can you tell us more about the key changes and personalised shopping experience that you’ve implemented to date in terms of sus- doesn’t separate the online and offline but tainability? We launched our Positively FAR- brings the two harmoniously together to conFETCH strategy back in 2019 and have since nect with the customer – wherever they are. developed a whole range of initiatives under This is The Sustainability Issue – how are you that banner. FARFETCH now champions personally as well as professionally working on the most relevant and expansive curation of optimizing this? Like my approach with busiluxury products across womenswear, mens- ness, I try to focus on a few big things that I wear and kidswear that are making industry- think will make a difference. A few examples leading efforts to minimize fashion’s impact of this are changing the kind of energy we use on people, animals and the planet, aligned to run our house, trying to use lower carbon with our public and independently backed forms of transport when possible, more cyConscious Criteria. This includes collections cling and walking is key and looking out for of conscious fashion for men, women and independent certifications on the material kids, pre-owned pieces, conscious jewellery goods that I buy – including clothing, but also and upcycled watches. We provide dedicated, food, household goods etc. I also don’t try curated edits, a filter within all categories and over-think things – if I’m spending time and information at the product level – all to debating between a fair-trade OR carbonhelp consumers shop more positively. neutral product, I’m probably not spending

Customers can now clear space in their my time wisely. There are arguments on both wardrobe and earn FARFETCH credit with sides but, it’s better to choose something posour resale programme FARFETCH Second itive than not include a positive choice at all.