LG and thredUP Partner to Extend the Life of Clothes, Marking Expansion of thredUP’s Resale-as-a-Service
LG is the first non-fashion brand to leverage thredUP's Resale-as-a-Service, signaling that companies across industries are participating in the apparel resale economy. The partnership will further LG’s commitment to extending the life of clothing and educating about responsible clothing care.
July 15, 2021 (ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J. AND OAKLAND, CALIF.) – Clothing care and laundry innovator LG Electronics USA and ThredUp Inc. (NASDAQ: TDUP), one of the largest online resale platforms for women’s and kids’ apparel, shoes, and accessories, today announced that thredUP will power an apparel clean out program on behalf of LG home appliances through thredUP’s Resale-as-a-ServiceⓇ (RaaSⓇ). With this deal, thredUP is expanding RaaSⓇ’ client reach, enabling businesses across industries to offer apparel resale experiences to their customers.
Part of LG’s ‘Second Life’ campaign, which aims to inspire people to care for what they wear and reduce their fashion footprint, the new initiative makes it simple for consumers to responsibly clean out unwanted items from their closets and give them a “second life” with the help of thredUP. Anyone in the U.S. will be able to order a thredUP x LG Donation Clean Out Kit or print a donation label online at www.LGSecondLife.com or thredUP.com/LG. Customers can fill their Donation Clean Out Kit or any shippable box with women’s and kids’ apparel, shoes, and accessories and ship them to thredUP for free. For each Donation Clean Out Kit thredUP receives, LG and thredUP will donate $5 to a select charity of the seller’s choice. thredUP then gives resellable items a “second life” by making them available in its marketplace.
“While LG’s top-rated washers and dryers help millions of Americans take the very best care of their fabrics, we know that styles change, tastes change, even sizes change,” said Peggy Ang, head of marketing at LG Electronics USA. “As a leader in fabric care, LG is invested in how to care for your clothes throughout their lifecycle – from how you wash them to how you ultimately pass them on. Working with thredUP on this nationwide initiative enables us to scale these efforts in a unique way, while shining a light on the important issue of textile waste and inspiring consumers to take responsible action for the planet.”
With this first-of-its-kind deal, LG joins other leading brands and retailers that rely on RaaSⓇ to deliver customized, scalable resale experiences to their customers, including GAP, Madewell, and Reformation. thredUP’s 2021 Resale Report shows that an estimated 36 billion clothing items are thrown away in the U.S. each year – 95 percent of which could be recycled or reused. Learn more about thredUP’s RaaSⓇ here.
“At thredUP, we believe that to take fashion from linear to circular, we need to rethink every aspect of the clothing life cycle,” said Pooja Sethi, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Resale-as-a-ServiceⓇ at thredUP. “We are thrilled to work with an innovative company like LG to power apparel clean out for their customers and believe this deal shows that any company – not just fashion retailers – can participate in apparel resale through RaaSⓇ, reaching new audiences and paving the way for a more sustainable future for fashion.”
LG and thredUP are both committed to educating consumers about the impact of their clothing choices and empowering them to reduce their fashion footprint – from best–in-class clothing care with LG washers and dryers to apparel resale through thredUP’s RaaSⓇ. To request a clean out kit and learn more about how LG’s Second Life initiative is inspiring people to care for clothing, upcycle and donate their clothes responsibly, visit www.LGSecondLife.com.
About LG Electronics USA
LG Electronics USA, Inc., based in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., is the North American subsidiary of LG Electronics, Inc., a $56 billion global innovator in technology and manufacturing. In the United States, LG’s focus on Innovation for a Better Life is exemplified by a wide range of innovative home appliances, home entertainment products, mobile phones, commercial displays, air conditioning systems, solar energy solutions and vehicle components. The “Life’s Good” marketing theme encompasses how LG is dedicated to people’s happiness by exceeding expectations today and tomorrow. LG is a 2020 ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year-Sustained Excellence. www.LG.com.
About thredUP
thredUP is transforming resale with technology and a mission to inspire a new generation of consumers to think secondhand first. By making it easy to buy and sell secondhand, thredUP has become one of the world’s largest resale platforms for women’s and kids’ apparel, shoes and accessories. Sellers love thredUP because we make it easy to clean out their closets and unlock value for themselves or for the charity of their choice while doing good for the planet. Buyers love shopping value, premium and luxury brands all in one place, at up to 90% off estimated retail price. Our proprietary operating platform is the foundation for our managed marketplace and consists of distributed processing infrastructure, proprietary software and systems and data science expertise. In 2018, we extended our platform with thredUP’s Resale-As-A-Service (RaaSⓇ), which facilitates modern resale for a number of the world’s leading brands and retailers. thredUP has processed over 125 million unique secondhand items from 35,000 brands across 100 categories. By extending the life cycle of clothing, thredUP is changing the way consumers shop and ushering in a more sustainable future for the fashion industry.