US secondhand clothing sales are growing nearly four times faster than new clothing, with consumers spending about one-third of their clothing budget on secondhand. Meanwhile, synthetic materials make up 69% of global fiber production, pushing buyers toward secondhand in search of silk, wool, and good tailoring.

Key Points

  • ThredUp's 2026 Resale Report: Last year, US secondhand clothing sales grew nearly four times faster than new clothing, with buyers spending about one-third of their clothing budget on secondhand goods.
  • Textile Exchange data: In 2024, synthetic fibers accounted for 69% of global fiber production, with synthetic output now more than triple that of cotton; global fiber production is expected to increase by more than a quarter from 2024 to 2030, with the increase mainly from new synthetic fibers.
  • Pre-Loved survey: Among nearly 200 frequent secondhand buyers, more than half cited quality and craftsmanship as their top reason for buying secondhand; about two-thirds listed "too much poor-quality clothing, hard to sort through" as a major complaint.

More Expensive, But Not Better
US Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows clothing prices rose 3.6% in the year through August, slightly outpacing overall inflation. As consumers pay higher prices, the global fiber supply is tilting toward synthetics. Synthetic fibers are less breathable, trap odors, and often degrade over time.

The price gap is driving the shift. Nonprofit Changing Markets notes that polyester costs about half as much as cotton; Textile Exchange's latest report shows factories now produce more than three times as much polyester as cotton, with polyester output continuing to rise while cotton production declines.

This substitution is also happening at mall brands. An InStyle editor reviewed new products from 12 brands and found that two-thirds of mall-brand products were synthetic; among three fast-fashion brands, 93% of tops and outerwear were synthetic fibers; even luxury brands had 40% synthetic materials, mostly blends. These chain brands once sold silk products.

Craftsmanship Is Shrinking Too
Eugene Ree, who worked at Gap and Banana Republic and now teaches fashion design at FIT, points out that prints no longer need to align with seams, saving time and money. Most buyers won't notice when brands substitute polyester for silk, which allows the substitution to continue. "They just like that silky feel, that touch... as long as it feels soft, silky, or smooth, they actually can't tell the difference."

Henry Navarro Delgado, associate professor at Toronto Metropolitan University's School of Fashion, told NPR that it's extremely difficult for ordinary consumers to judge polyester quality: cheap polyester garments often lack quality control, the same style may be sewn in multiple countries, and quality varies from piece to piece. Brands don't make inspection easy either—labels are often hidden under armpits or in skirt seams, and a dress labeled "100% cotton" may be lined with polyester against the skin.

Higher prices also don't buy better stitching. Brandon Veloria Giordano, co-owner of New York vintage store James Veloria, told InStyle that the only place he can find French seams (a slow, hidden seam finish) is in vintage. Speaking of new branded clothing, he said: "I don't understand why I'd pay this price." Lab testing confirms this: global environmental organization WRAP and the Leeds Institute of Textiles and Colour spent three years testing over 200 garments and found that neither price nor brand could predict how long a garment would last.

To Buy a Brand's Best Years, You Have to Go Secondhand
Authentic luxury resale platform RealReal's 2026 Resale Report shows that saved searches for specific-era clothing grew 135% in a year, with "Phoebe Philo-era Celine" searches alone up 650%. RealReal CEO Rati Sahi Levesque told the Los Angeles Times: "A Phoebe Philo-era Chloé bag can be as relevant as something that just walked the runway six months ago. A piece from 20 years ago might be exactly what a 22-year-old is looking for."

But secondhand stores are also filling up with the fast fashion buyers were trying to avoid. In the Pre-Loved survey, nearly two-thirds of frequent secondhand buyers listed "too much poor-quality merchandise, exhausting to dig through" as a major frustration, with many hoping platforms would offer a search filter for fast-fashion brands.

Buying Clothes by "Lifetime" and "Resale Value"
Resale companies say buyers are also choosing clothes based on wear life and future resale value. Kristen Brophy, ThredUp's senior vice president of marketing, said in the Pre-Loved industry newsletter: "We're seeing consumers move away from just looking at the price tag and starting to calculate a garment's lifetime value." She added that buyers who think this way "will buy better brands because they know the resale demand for those brands, and they'll take better care of their clothes."

ThredUp's report shows 60% of consumers say resale value is a key factor in buying new clothes; about half of Gen Z and millennial buyers say they plan to resell more than half of the clothes they own.

Buying for resale requires good clothes worth buying on the market, and resellers are running short. Pre-Loved newsletter author Emily Stochl points out that sellers on secondhand platforms can easily find buyers but can't find enough well-made goods to sell, and this shortage is limiting the resale industry's growth. The silk, wool, and well-stitched jeans buyers seek were mostly produced years ago, and brands rarely make them now.

Polyester is still on the way. Textile Exchange predicts that if the industry maintains the status quo, global fiber production in 2030 will be more than a quarter higher than in 2024, with new synthetic fibers contributing most of the increase; and these fabrics rarely return as new fabric—less than 1% of global fibers come from recycled textiles. Unless brands change what they produce, buyers turning to secondhand for better fabrics will find fewer good materials on the racks each year.

Source: Les acheteurs achètent des vêtements d'occasion tandis que les nouveaux passent au polyester. · Originally published 2026-10-07