S03 Episode 134 | REFORMATION + THEIR NEW PARTNERSHIP WITH THREDUP

In episode 134, Kestrel welcomes Kathleen Talbot, the VP of Operations + Sustainability at Reformation, to the show. A revolutionary lifestyle brand, Reformation offers thoughtfully produced clothing at an affordable price–a reminder that being green shouldn’t mean sacrificing style and quality.

“If you’re confident and you’re motivated to really manage the impact of your product and really your product’s whole life cycle, you shouldn’t be afraid of growth. You should be really trying to maximize that because by growing our business, by reaching a bigger consumer base, we’re actually magnifying our impact."
- Kathleen Talbot, VP of Operations + Sustainability at Reformation

In this episode, Kathleen shares more on the origins of Reformation, and how they are an act + iterate company. For Reformation, they’re all about testing to try to reduce their impact - when they discover that something isn’t working and/or reducing their footprint, they shift right away and try something else.

Kathleen also shares more on how Reformation believes that growth isn’t something they shy away from - instead they lean into it, and believe that growth - if done in the right way - can only expand their impact exponentially.

Throughout this chat, Kestrel + Kathleen talk specifically about the resale market, and Reformation’s recently launched partnership with ThredUp to help close their loop.

The below thoughts, ideas + organizations were brought up in this chat:

“Up to 90% of the clothing that is thrown away is before the end of its useful life and can be reused, and only a fraction of stuff is getting recycled.”

According to ThredUp’s 6th annual Resale Report released this last April, they stated that by 2022, the resale market will hit $41 billion.

ThredUp’s Report outlines that RESALE is growing 24 times faster than RETAIL.

ThredUp’s Report says that 1 in 3 women (18 years of age and older) shopped secondhand last year.

Reformation Vintage Shop in Los Angeles

Vestiaire Collective, another resale platform Kathleen mentioned that Ref has partnered with in the past

Depop, another resale platform Kathleen mentioned that Ref has partnered with in the past

FROM THE INTRO:

Kestrel is traveling with Remake on their Made In Mexico trip this upcoming week. Alongside students from California College of Arts, the group will travel to Mexico City and Oaxaca, with the intention to meet directly with garment workers and artisans to hear their personal stories.

If you are interested in following along on the journey, you can watch Kestrel’s Instagram @consciouschatter or Remake’s @remakeourworld.