America’s biggest clothing brands are discovering that one of their fastest-growing businesses isn’t selling new clothes—it’s selling the same garments twice.

Levi Strauss, The North Face, Calvin Klein and Pacsun are among the growing number of U.S. labels building company-operated resale businesses, reclaiming merchandise that once flowed through third-party marketplaces. In an apparel market squeezed by tariffs, higher sourcing costs and cautious consumers, used inventory is increasingly becoming one of the industry’s most valuable assets.

The economics are no longer speculative.

Secondhand apparel sales in the United States reached $55.5 billion in 2025, representing roughly 12% of the $458 billion Americans spent on clothing, footwear and accessories, according to ThredUp’s fourteenth annual resale report and GlobalData’s analysis. Globally, the secondhand apparel market reached $393 billion and continues expanding faster than traditional retail. Online resale in the United States alone is projected to grow to $40 billion by 2029.

For many retailers, resale is no longer simply a sustainability initiative. It has become a way to offset rising import costs while keeping customers—and valuable shopping data—inside the brand ecosystem.

For brands, control is the biggest advantage.

Merchandise that once disappeared into third-party resale marketplaces now moves through company-owned channels where pricing, presentation and customer relationships remain in-house. Levi’s sells certified pre-owned denim through its SecondHand program at lower price points, while Gucci operates a curated archival marketplace under its Vault banner. The North Face, part of VF Corp., refurbishes used products through its Renewed program at a Denver processing facility, where even damaged puffer jackets receive reconstructed panels and are sold as one-of-a-kind pieces.

Calvin Klein has taken a different approach, partnering with resale logistics company Trove and circular logistics specialist DeBrand through its Re-Calvin take-back program, which routes returned garments for resale, donation, recycling or downcycling. Trove also operates resale platforms for Patagonia, Michael Kors and Lovesac, allowing brands to outsource the complex logistics behind the growing business.

Resale Is Moving Into Stores

What changed most recently is location.

Resale spent years growing primarily online. Today it is increasingly moving onto the sales floor alongside full-priced merchandise.

Pacsun introduced its PS Vintage concept into 16 U.S. stores in April, creating dedicated sections separate from new apparel and reporting sell-through rates of roughly 20% in its strongest-performing locations. Faherty, which launched its Second Wave resale platform online in 2023, has begun installing shop-in-shop resale departments, including at its Williamsburg, Brooklyn, location. H&M recently opened a second vintage store-within-a-store in Beverly Hills, while Buffalo Exchange reports growing numbers of customers trading in used garments for store credit toward brands including Zara and Madewell.

Tariffs Are Accelerating the Shift

Rising tariffs have added new urgency to the trend.

The average tariff rate on U.S. apparel imports reached 35.1% in December 2025, the highest level in decades and a sharp increase from 14.7% at the beginning of the year. An executive order signed on February 20, 2026 extended the suspension of the de minimis exemption, requiring nearly all low-value imported parcels to pay duties regardless of their country of origin.

McKinsey estimates the tariffs will increase near-term sourcing costs by approximately 35% for apparel and 37% for leather goods. Not surprisingly, 40% of fashion executives now rank U.S. trade policy among their top three business risks, up from 25% just one year earlier.

Consumers have already begun adjusting their buying habits.

Fifty-nine percent say they would shift toward lower-cost options—including secondhand clothing—if tariffs continue pushing retail prices higher. Among millennials, that figure rises to 69%.

Retailers are responding accordingly.

More than half—54%—now view resale as a stable and predictable inventory source during periods of tariff uncertainty, while 76% of executives whose companies do not yet operate resale businesses say they are actively considering launching one.

The strategic opportunity extends beyond a single used jacket.

Nearly half of consumers now check resale listings before purchasing new products, including 58% of Generation Z shoppers. One in four consumers say a brand-operated resale platform increases their confidence in buying both new and pre-owned merchandise, while 43% of secondhand shoppers later purchase new products from the same company. Sales of branded mid-market resale apparel have increased 300% between 2021 and 2025.

The Business Still Has Limits

The economics remain compelling, but scaling resale is another challenge.

The North Face’s Renewed business processed approximately 96,000 items last year—a meaningful number, but tiny compared with the hundreds of millions of new products sold annually. Fewer than one-third of industry executives identified resale as a top priority for 2026, and only 7% plan significant investment in broader circular business models.

The reason is simple.

Collecting, inspecting, cleaning, authenticating and redistributing used clothing requires an entirely different operating model from ordering containers of new inventory. That complexity explains why many brands partner with specialists such as ThredUp, Trove and Archive instead of building the infrastructure themselves.

For now, resale is less a replacement for traditional retail than a hedge against a changing marketplace.

It provides brands with a domestic source of inventory that cannot be disrupted by tariffs, customs rules or overseas shipping delays while appealing to consumers who have watched apparel prices steadily climb for five consecutive years. Apparel prices stood roughly 14% above their 2021 level as of March 2026.

In an era of higher tariffs and increasingly uncertain supply chains, a used jacket already hanging in an American closet may prove more valuable to a retailer than a brand-new one still waiting to clear customs.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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