Get off that sales shelf.
Online resale retailer thredUP has joined forces with “Stranger Things” star Priah Ferguson to launch a new phone service designed to stop fast-fashion lovers from impulse-buying cheap clothes – most of them of which quickly land in landfills.
ThredUP created the initiative after a survey of 2,000 Gen Z Americans found that a third of them felt “addicted” to fast fashion — which includes affordable, trendy clothing sold at some of the country’s most popular retailers, including Zara and Forever 21.
“Hey Priah here, you’ve reached the Fast Fashion Confession Hotline, which means you want to break up with fast fashion,” Ferguson, 15, says in a recorded message that plays after a caller on US call 1-855-THREDUP. .
“You and the planet deserve better,” the actress continues, before giving callers three different options.
“If you’re on the verge of a brag, girl don’t. Press 1,” Ferguson asks, with the number leading to a lecture from the star on why fast fashion is bad.
If a caller presses 2, they will be able to hear Ferguson explain why buying cheap is a superior alternative for the environment.
Meanwhile, an option to press 3 results in the star sharing her fast fashion horror story in an attempt to get the caller to put their clothes back on the rack.
“We were surprised by the number of people who said they were fully aware of their individual consumption habits and that they had an impact on the planet, but were doing it anyway,” thredUP’s VP of Marketing told Vogue Business this week. Integrated, Erin Wallace.
Many young people are buying clothes for their social media feeds, before giving up on the designs after just a few wears. The clothes are then thrown in the trash, often ending up in landfills that take decades to decompose.
In 2018, The Post reported on a survey of 2,000 Britons which found that most were buying twice as many items of clothing than a decade ago.
The survey also found that one in 10 respondents threw away clothes after wearing them just 3 times in photos posted on Facebook or Instagram.
Meanwhile, one in five respondents admitted to putting unwanted couture in the bin instead of donating or recycling it.
