Fashion Industry

Zara, H&M and their peers launching resale arms isn't about sustainability credentials, it's about owning the customer twice: once at first sale and again when that same item resurfaces on a platform they control, rather than ceding that transaction to Vinted or Depop entirely. The economics only work if brands can capture resale volume without cannibalising new sales, which is why most of these programmes are structured as store credit rather than cash, keeping the customer inside the brand's retail loop. Depop and Vinted's user growth over the past three years is the real pressure forcing this move, not consumer demand for corporate virtue. The brands that win here are the ones treating resale as inventory management, not marketing.

Ten months after Milan Fashion Week backlash, Prada has turned cultural controversy into a collaboration. The Italian house launched sandals inspired by traditional Kolhapuri chappals, priced at €750 per pair and produced in Maharashtra and Karnataka in partnership with state-backed bodies as company releases detail. Prada will train 180 artisans over three years through Indian design institutes, with select craftspeople visiting the Prada Group Academy in Italy. The move tests whether luxury brands can monetise cultural heritage respectfully while charging 15 times more than authentic versions. Prada's premium pricing on traditional designs offers a template for other European houses facing scrutiny over appropriation, but success depends on whether Indian consumers buy the collaboration narrative or see it as expensive damage control.