Preloved Luxury Childrenswear Platform RETYKLE Opens Permanent Storefront In Hong Kong

The first online resale platform for preloved designer childrenswear in Asia, RETYKLE, has just opened the doors of what is now their permanent studio retail space in Wong Chuk Hang. After the popularity of their pop-ups at various locations across the city, customers looking for more sustainable options when it comes to quality baby and children’s clothing will now have a new go-to location. With more and more parents becoming aware of the impact of their purchasing decisions on the planet and the sustainable fashion industry seeing record growth in Hong Kong and beyond, the timing of Retykle’s is fortuitous.

Preloved childrenswear platform RETYKLE announced the launch of their first permanent retail flagship, a 5,000 square foot space in Hong Kong’s Wong Chuk Hang. Founded in 2016 by ex Lane Crawford & Shanghai Tang fashion veteran Sarah Garner when she became a parent and realised she had piles of unworn or almost new kids clothing to contend with, Retykle as an online destination for secondhand luxury babywear and children’s clothing, before expanding into offline popups, maternity clothes, baby accessories and brand overtsock.

Their new studio storefront will allow customers to browse through preloved garments from over 2,000 designer brands for childrenswear, including Bonpoint, Moncher, Ralph Lauren, and purchase them at a fraction of their original retail price. Online to offline synergies are on offer too: for example, customers can view Retykle’s entire collection online and create a wishlist for when they visit the studio for a hassle-free shopping experience. 

“This is a big moment. The time is right for us to open our doors permanently to our growing community…we are looking forward to offering customers a variety of shopping experiences so they can be part of the RETYKLE movement,” said Garner about the store opening. 

The mission of RETYKLE is to promote a sharing, circular economy by offering a platform where luxury, quality baby and kids apparel can be resold. Buying secondhand clothing is a great way to reduce the environmental footprint of fashion, especially as the industry throws away 92 million tonnes of textile off-cuts and unwanted garments to landfills every single year, according to figures presented at the Copenhagen Fashion Summit. Hong Kong alone sends 253 tonnes of textile waste to landfills every single day.

Manufacturing textiles uses up huge amounts of water – the industry is responsible for 20% of global water wastage, on top of producing 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. The heavy environmental cost of garment factories is particularly salient for Asia given that over half of all textile manufacturers globally are located in the region. 

As mainstream fashion’s poor eco scorecard continues to dominate the headlines, more consumers in Asia and globally are embracing a more sustainable approach to clothing purchasing with rental platforms and circular solutions seeing growing adoption.

As per the latest WEF report, the Chinese rental, sharing and resale fashion market economy is predicted to grow to take over 20% of the country’s GDP by 2025. Globally, the secondhand clothing market will be 1.5 larger than the fast fashion market within a decade, according to thredUP’s sales analysis. More locally, Hong Kong’s preloved market is growing fast with the opening of HULA, the city’s first resale warehouse and the success of blockchain-powered luxury circular venture LUXARITY, and their recent pop-up at ifc mall’s Lane Crawford. 

READ: Green Queen’s Exclusive Interview With LUXARITY Founder Cristina Ventura 

It is clear that drastic changes have to be made if we are to live more consciously with a lower impact on our environment. Diving into the preloved trend is one of the most effective ways we can take action when it comes to sustainable fashion – and the opening of RETYKLE’s permanent store marks a positive step forward to grow a circular community in Hong Kong for parents and kids alike. 

RETYKLE, 8/F Sing Teck Building, 44 Wong Chuk Hang Road, Wong Chuk Hang, Hong Kong. Open Monday – Friday: 9.30am – 6.00pm.

Lead image courtesy of RETYKLE.