Diesel jumps into the second-hand market

By

Jennifer Braun

Published
Nov 4, 2021

Italian denim brand Diesel is jumping into the second-hand market with a new project dedicated to offering a carefully curated edit of restored and renewed Diesel denim.

Now available in select Italian stores and online throughout Europe, each pair of denim available through Diesel Second Hand is stamped with a red logo across the back allowing second-hand to be celebrated and recognized. 

To minimize the environmental impact, each pair of jeans from the program has been collected in Italy, carefully restored in specialist denim facilities based less than 200 miles from Diesel’s headquarters and then washed once to be sanitized. Additionally, all garments are sprayed with ‘Viraloff’ and Odor Crunch, which allows for reduced frequency of laundering during customer use.

While analysis has shown it can take nearly 4,000 liters of water to make a single pair of jeans, second-hand offers a more sustainable alternative.

Diesel Second Hand first entered a trial phase over the summer 2021, with buyback programs offered at selected Italian monobrand stores. To date, 900 pairs of jeans have been collected and reconditioned giving them a second life. The buyback programme will continue to remain active in Italy.

The move comes as the resale industry is expected to grow 11 times faster than the broader retail clothing sector in the period to 2025, according to GlobalData.

In May, Diesel and its creative director Glenn Martens debuted the brand’s For Responsible Living sustainability initiative with the launch of Diesel Library, which also aimed to rethink the brand’s overall approach to denim for a more environmentally alternative.