Vestiaire Collective is turning secondhand sales into carbon credits while Ralph Lauren abandons its net-zero 2040 pledge in divergent strategies that highlight fashion’s split climate ambitions.
Vestiaire Collective has introduced a carbon credit initiative tied to the emissions avoided when a buyer opts for a secondhand garment instead of buying new. The company has made 55,000 certified credits available for sale, covering avoided emissions from its 2023 and 2024 transactions. Proceeds, Vestiaire says, will be reinvested into strengthening its operations — catalog curation, authentication, data refinement, and marketing to spur broader adoption of resale.
The credits are built on a methodology developed by Inuk and certified by AmSpec, each representing one tonne of avoided CO₂ emissions. Vestiaire frames the model as “proof that circularity generates a concrete and measurable impact,” said Dounia Wone, its chief impact officer.
Vestiaire reports that its pre-loved sales in 2024 avoided more than 63,000 tonnes of CO₂ — exceeding the company’s own carbon footprint and tipping it into what it calls a net climate-positive standing. The credit scheme prices credits at €34 per tonne (roughly $40), and Vestiaire has positioned the first year as a “learning phase” to refine metrics and gauge market reaction.
Yet the move is not without controversy. Vestiaire’s methodology assumes that once a product is in resale, its original carbon footprint “disappears” from this accounting. But critics point out that emissions tied to platform operations — shipping, packaging, server energy, authentication — are excluded. Some observers question whether funds should support core business operations or be dedicated to discrete climate interventions. Still, as a first in the fashion world, the move signals ambition and invites scrutiny.
In its 2025 impact report, Vestiaire notes it “monetized avoided environmental impact through carbon avoidance credits, proving circular fashion can generate both climate benefits and business value.”
Ralph Lauren’s rolling goals
At the same moment as resale innovates, heritage fashion giant Ralph Lauren is redefining how it governs climate ambition. Its latest sustainability strategy discontinues its 2040 net-zero target and instead sets “rolling” five-year emissions milestones. The company emphasizes that the shift is meant to deliver “impactful results and drive accountability.”
“We will continue to follow a science-based methodology aligned with the Paris Agreement to advance our work,” the label’s FY 2025 sustainability report said, “further scaling proven approaches across raw materials sourcing; direct supplier engagement to phase out on-site coal; and advancing collective financing mechanisms to fund relevant supplier initiatives.”
“Guided by Ralph’s vision of timelessness, our citizenship and sustainability work is fundamentally about supporting the longevity of our business and the resilience of the people and resources that enable it,” said Katie Ioanilli, Chief Global Impact & Communications Officer, Ralph Lauren Corporation. “Over the last three years, we’ve sharpened our focus, deepened our partnerships and evolved how we work to further embed our approach and progress into our business and culture.”
Ralph Lauren has already exceeded its prior goal of a 30 percent emissions cut by 2030 (versus a 2020 baseline), having achieved 34 percent reductions so far. Its fiscal year 2025 reporting places emissions at approximately 1,230,541 metric tonnes CO₂ equivalent — comparable to the output of roughly 151,000 U.S. homes.
Under its “Timeless by Design” strategy, Ralph Lauren reports that 98 percent of its goods now meet sustainable materials criteria, reducing polyester use to just six percent of its fabrics. It continues supplier engagement — 170 facilities are part of the Apparel Impact Institute’s Carbon Leadership Program, and it has joined the Future Supplier Initiative to help finance supplier decarbonization.
Still, some critics see risk. Ceres, a climate nonprofit, warns that a net-zero target operates as a “North Star” for internal alignment and supplier incentives. Ken Pucker, the Dartmouth-Tufts academic, applauds the decarbonization but notes: “with the elimination of the company’s net zero goal, and the focus on shorter-term goals, it is surprising to not yet see revised targets.” Meanwhile, climate ratings group Stand.earth assigned Ralph Lauren a D+ on its 2025 fossil-free fashion scorecard, noting that fewer brands are phasing out synthetics so decisively.
Ralph Lauren describes the pivot as a strategic shift toward areas under its control, rather than relying on unscaled technologies like textile recycling. It intends to recalibrate its climate ambition by around 2035, when data systems and measurement maturity may support a more ambitious renewal.
Contrasting postures: innovation vs retrenchment
Vestiaire is taking a methodological risk. It risks reputational backlash that could undo the credibility of resale as climate action. But, success would rewire how capital flows into circular fashion. Ralph Lauren, meanwhile, may gain short-term flexibility, but it risks being accused of climate backsliding or diluted ambition.
Vestiaire’s challenge is scalability and comparability. Will other resale platforms adopt similarly auditable metrics? Can the market demand alignment of methodologies so that credits are comparable across fashion players? Meanwhile, Ralph Lauren’s strategy may presage a broader industry pattern: retreating from sweeping net-zero commitments toward manageable, incremental targets as regulatory pressure and measurement complexity intensify.
There is precedent, though. In 2023, brands like Asos and Crocs reworked their net-zero pledges when measurement constraints or shifting industry expectations outpaced their original frameworks. Meanwhile, carbon markets are under pressure — initiatives like the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market are pushing for uniform standards, demanding that credits be traceable, additional, and auditable.
As for resale, a recent report estimates that in the U.S., secondhand sales now make up roughly 33 percent of clothing purchases, translating to $56 billion in transactions. Platforms are asserting claims of displacement — the degree to which resales supplant new purchases — as central to their climate legitimacy. But, as experts note, proving genuine displacement reliably is persistently challenging.
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