Circular Business Models

The Future of Circular Business Services at Tommy Hilfiger

We’re working towards a future of fashion where we keep TOMMY HILFIGER and TOMMY JEANS products in use as long as possible. That’s why we’re exploring and building new business models to give our products new purpose. By scaling these new circular business models (such as resale, trade-in, repair, rework, and rental), we’re challenging the status quo and doing our part to lower our environmental impact.

Simply put, we want to keep on producing the same great styles, while making changes to our business so we can keep our pieces in circulation as long as possible.

Globally, 73% of the materials used to produce clothing are landfilled or burned at the end of their life, while less than 1% of old clothing goes on to be used to make new clothing.

We’re exploring ways to build a stronger, more agile and resilient business while extending our products’ lifespans. Here are some ways we’re working towards this:

Resale

A business model that extends the life of pre-loved pieces from our consumer take-back program and partially damaged pieces from our sales channels by cleaning, repairing, and reselling them. Our first initiative was piloted in the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, and France in 2020, where a selection of pieces enabled consumers to enjoy circular fashion without compromising on quality or design. In 2023, building on the learnings from the first pilots, we partnered with Depop, the UK-based fashion marketplace, inviting their community to rediscover TOMMY HILFIGER and TOMMY JEANS pieces that had been cleaned, repaired and restyled. We also launched a curated collection through the Zalando Pre-owned platform, available in 13 countries.

Rework

Here, pre-loved pieces from our consumer take-back program and partially damaged items from our sales channels are reworked by talented tailors. This means that for each style, the color, fit, and fabric will be unique from one item to the next, depending on the existing pieces available. After releasing our first collection in 2022, we recently launched the second Tommy Remixed collection in select stores across Italy, Germany and France.

Rental

This business model provides consumers with access to seasonless designs and extends the life of our iconic TOMMY HILFIGER styles. In 2022, we launched rental pilots with MyWardrobeHQ, and Rotaro, exclusively in the UK.

Trade-in

A program that allows consumers to trade in their pre-loved TOMMY HILFIGER styles so we can give them a new life by cleaning and repairing them. In exchange, consumers receive a voucher that invites them to explore other products. When the styles that were traded in couldn’t be resold or transformed into the Tommy Remixed collection, we found alternative end-of-life solutions, such as fiber-to-fiber recycling. This program started in the Netherlands and is now also available in the US & Mexico, rolling out soon to other European markets. If trade-in services are not currently offered in your country, we encourage you to explore other alternatives, like swapping with friends, reselling, donating, or recycling, which can also extend the life of your pieces.

Source: Centre for the Promotion of Imports from developing countries, 2021

Alternatively, buying and wearing secondhand clothing instead of new reduces carbon emissions by an average of 25%.

Learn more about the Materials and Innovations that are helping us build our circular fashion future.