Every item we sell is one-of-a-kind
Beyond Retro is the famed vintage chain whose success is driven by its authenticity, sustainability, and beautifully curated clothing at a good price. The company has remained a trailblazer, earning a reputation as the go-to destination for fashion-forward originals. Offering the largest selection of handpicked vintage clothing to style-conscious shoppers, each show-stopping store and the online shop is a dazzling celebration of style through the decades. In a world of throwaway fashion, Beyond Retro provides customers with on-trend items without the carbon footprint. Its parent company Bank & Vogue is one of the largest traders in used goods in the world. In an interview with Fibre2Fashion, Co-founder Steven Bethell discusses taking post-consumer waste and transforming it into relevant products.
What are the biggest challenges the fashion industry faces in adopting sustainable practices, and how can brands effectively overcome them?
The biggest challenge for brands is whether consumers are willing to pay a premium for more sustainable products. Another critical challenge lies in whether brands are prepared to make the morally right choices, fully aware that their decisions significantly impact the health of our planet.
The question is whether brands can demonstrate real leadership by making difficult decisions, such as sacrificing margins, to create more sustainable products. Overcoming these challenges requires courage, innovation, and a commitment to prioritising long-term environmental benefits over short-term profits.
How has the increasing awareness of sustainability and ethical practices among consumers influenced the vintage and second-hand fashion market?
This is the wrong question to ask about sustainability. If we focus solely on selling sustainability or catering to a purely sustainability-minded customer, we will struggle to survive. The key is to offer relevant and engaging products that happen to be sustainable, rather than emphasising sustainability as a selling point. Focusing too heavily on sustainability as a narrative comes with a risk of becoming a fool’s paradise.
In what ways can technology, such as AI or blockchain, be leveraged to streamline the process of sourcing, curating, and authenticating vintage clothing?
At this stage, I do not believe the technology is fully there yet. For example, AI lacks the ability to perceive emotion or capture the nuanced qualities that vintage clothing represents. A recent podcast from The Wall Street Journal discussed how AI struggles to identify emotive moments in music, and the same applies here.
In the world of vintage fashion, we are not just selling items; we are selling emotional connections. AI cannot identify patina or heritage—qualities intrinsic to vintage pieces—because it lacks the capacity for emotional understanding.
What inspired the founding of Beyond Retro, and how has the brand evolved to align with the current landscape of vintage and sustainable fashion?
The founding of Beyond Retro stemmed from a love of unique and individual apparel. My favourite early items to collect from used clothing were vintage Cowichan sweaters. These sweaters, knitted in the 1960s and 1970s by the Cowichan Indians, were made famous by The Big Lebowski. As soon as you see them, they evoke a strong sense of emotion and nostalgia.
Our evolution has been shaped by interpreting the trends of the day through the lens of pre-loved fashion. This approach has ensured that our journey aligns closely with the ever-changing landscape of general fashion trends.
With Bank & Vogue being a major player in the global circular economy of textiles, how has their expertise in remanufacturing and recycling shaped the operations and vision of Beyond Retro?
In several ways. The biggest challenge in the vintage business is that you can only sell what you can find. Setting up our remanufacturing division was a pivotal step towards addressing this challenge. It allowed us to take beautiful fabrics that may have been in the wrong shape and reimagine them by cutting and remanufacturing them into something new.
Our journey into upcycling and remanufacturing stemmed from an honest desire to create relevant items out of beautiful fabrics with outdated or irrelevant shapes. The ability to sort, grade, and deconstruct these materials has given us a unique advantage, enabling us to contribute to fibre-to-fibre recycling in meaningful ways.
Can you share insights into your process for sourcing and curating vintage pieces? How do you maintain quality and authenticity?
Interestingly, the concept of ‘good’ or ‘quality’ is not fixed but rather evolutionary. What we are really chasing is a style or a trend. This is where our trends department plays a critical role in our success.
We have a dedicated team that closely monitors current trends, ensuring our selection aligns with what is relevant and popular. By reflecting our curation against the trends of the day, we maintain not only quality and authenticity but also ensure our offerings resonate with contemporary fashion preferences.
Beyond Retro is well-known for promoting sustainability. What are some specific initiatives or strategies you have implemented to ensure the brand’s eco-conscious mission?
In recent years, we have made significant changes to reinforce our sustainability mission. For a while, we included some new products in our mix, but we have drastically scaled that back. Additionally, we have introduced a buyback programme, allowing customers to bring back items from their closets—often located just down the street from our stores—giving these pieces a second or even third life within the community.
Focusing on local sourcing has been an important step towards a more sustainable offering. While our operations are inherently sustainable, incorporating this idea of sourcing directly from our customers within their local communities further aligns with our eco-conscious goals.
With e-commerce growing rapidly, how has Beyond Retro embraced technology to enhance the online shopping experience?
E-commerce presents unique challenges in the second-hand space, as each item requires individual attention. Our first priority with e-commerce has been to use it as a platform to tell our story and promote our physical stores.
Beyond that, it has become a vehicle for offering unique selections. For instance, we have launched an online auction feature, which allows us to showcase and sell the pinnacle pieces we discover to a wider audience, enhancing accessibility while celebrating the uniqueness of vintage fashion.
What are some unique challenges of running a vintage-focused business, and how do you overcome them?
The main challenge is achieving what we call ‘mass exclusivity’. Every item we sell is one-of-a-kind, which makes scaling our operations while maintaining this exclusivity a constant challenge. However, it is also our biggest strength, as it sets us apart and creates a unique appeal for our customers.
Beyond Retro has a strong presence in the UK and Sweden. Are there plans for further global expansion, and how do you tailor your approach to different markets?
We are excited to be partnering with larger retailers to enter new markets. A great example is our collaboration with Simons, a brick-and-mortar store chain across Canada. Through this partnership, we are able to offer our curated vintage collection, allowing us to expand into new markets while achieving scale.
How does Beyond Retro adapt to current fashion trends while maintaining the timeless appeal of vintage clothing?
Our business heavily relies on analytics. We use data-driven insights to inform our buying decisions, ensuring we focus on what we know will sell and what our customers want. While our operations may appear simple on the surface, the complexity lies in the data we collect and leverage. Ultimately, data is at the heart of how we balance adapting to trends with preserving the timeless charm of vintage fashion.
What are your long-term goals for Beyond Retro, and how do you see the vintage fashion industry evolving in the next decade?
Our ultimate vision is a retail landscape where there are no defined lines between vintage and new clothing. True success will be when used items seamlessly share the same shelves as new ones, and both customers and retailers embrace this integration as a natural part of modern retail. This shift would signify full acceptance of circular fashion within the industry.
What innovative strategies or technologies is Beyond Retro exploring to further enhance the customer experience and expand its role in the circular fashion economy?
A key focus for Beyond Retro is ensuring that our frontline team members are highly knowledgeable about the products we offer. This includes understanding the history, heritage, and curation process of each garment.
To achieve this, we have invested in platforms like Learning 360, a centralised training tool that enables us to educate our staff globally. By empowering our team with knowledge, we aim to create a richer customer experience and reinforce our commitment to the circular fashion economy. At the end of the day, knowledge is power.
What role do you see the circular economy playing in the future of the fashion industry, and how can businesses better integrate these principles into their operations?
The circular economy refers to the value hierarchy in apparel, encompassing everything from new manufacturing to repair, resale, international resale, upcycling, and fibre-to-fibre recycling. Each of these elements plays a crucial role in extending the lifecycle of materials.
Every business can contribute, whether by reselling more items in their own stores, offering repair services, engaging in remanufacturing, or exploring upcycling opportunities—such as our collaboration with Coach. This demonstrates that all aspects of the circular economy are feasible, even down to fibre-to-fibre recycling.
The goal is to maximise the use of first-life materials and find ways to reuse them for second, third, or even fourth lives. Our business successes serve as proof that integrating these principles is not only possible but also beneficial.
How are regional differences in consumer preferences and economic conditions shaping the vintage and second-hand clothing market globally?
Regional, religious, and cultural differences certainly play a role. For example, strappy dresses sell very well in El Salvador but would struggle to find buyers in Jordan. At the same time, overarching global trends highlight the interconnectedness of the world—showing that, in many ways, consumer preferences are becoming increasingly similar.
The nuances often depend on factors such as weather and cultural relevance. For our customer base, which tends to be younger, the world feels ‘flat’—a reflection of how universal certain trends have become across regions, whether for vintage or new clothing. Nonetheless, recognising and respecting regional differences remains key to successfully navigating global markets.