ThredUP Teams With Nava Rose To Help Users “Dump Fast Fashion”

Influencer Nava Rose, who has 6 million followers on TikTok, has collaborated with resale site thredUP to give Gen-Zers an alternative to shopping fast fashion.

With Rom Com Core poised to be one of TikTok’s next biggest fashion trends, with an homage to powerful female main character energy, Rose is helping those who hope to star as their own main character this Valentine’s Day, by partnering with thredUP to thrift the best looks for V-Day without the waste.

Together, Rose and thredUP are launching “The Dump Fast Fashion Shop.” (The resale thrifting giant is nothing, if not blunt.) “This unique storefront will offer consumers the chance to thrift Rose’s looks by using thredUP’s What They Thrifted tool, which uses AI to display hundreds of items on thredUP that resemble Rose’s thrifted picks,” the company said in a statement.

Erin Wallace, threadUP’s vice president, integrated marketing steered the conversation about the initiative with Rose in a telephone interview.

Rom Com Core, the trend, which Huffington Post called “an homage to powerful female main character energy of the ‘90s — think “Mean Girls” and “13 Going On 30,” afflicts Gen Z and Millennials seeking sartorial inspiration from Rom Coms, which dominated the Aughts.

The iconic looks experts have in mind include slip dresses, tube tops, miniskirts and cargo pants, which are reportedly making a huge comeback.

Rose put together three outfits for Valentine’s Day. She shopped thredUp at the beginning of the year, and then thredUP used its AI tool to surface similar-looking apparel with What they Thrifted, which allows everyone to shop the three looks, or a facsimile of them on thredUP.

Asked how thredUP will quantify the success of the partnership, Wallace said, “Sure, I think sales and traffic will definitely be a part of how we quantify the success of the collaboration, as well as engagement with the fast fashion shop posted in social as well.

“Fast fashion resonates with people,” Wallace said. “The shop itself was inspired by our Wardrobe Revolution survey. It’s just reflecting what we see in the data, which is one in three consumers resolving to quit fast fashion this year.

“We’ve been talking about the impact of fast fashion, especially, ultra-fast fashion like Shein,” Wallace said. “Historically, especially Gen-Z, has had a conviction around sustainability and a love of fast fashion, which have been at odds with each other.”

Wallace said it’s been exciting to see the results of the survey. Maybe this is the year that Gen Z and Millennials will really take action. “Nava Rose is pledging to not work with or shop ultra-fast fashion this year,” Wallace said. “She’s taking a lead role in that conversation.”

That’s exactly why thredUp wanted to launch the initiative for Valentine’s Day, Wallace said. “Whether you’re having a party of one with your girlfriends or going out on a date, these are the looks that [Rose] kind of prepared for each of those events. With the What They Thrifted tool, that really allows anyone to shop those looks.”

ThredUP is heartened by the data that came out of the Wardrobe Revolution study. “There’s a level of readiness and a level of education and a level of commitment to sustainability,” Wallace said. “Also, there can be alternatives to ultra fast fashion and fast fashion.

“All these things need to line up to make it easier for people to choose more sustainable alternatives,” she added. “What the data is showing, is at least a third of Gen Z respondents this year think it’s doable to stop doing something that they know is having a negative impact on the planet.”

H&M may be getting the memo finally. It’s launching a partnership on Roblox in the meta verse, and in explaining it, raised the specter of a “more sustainable” approach to fashion.

“I think all retail companies, especially, all apparel retail companies are thinking about their approach to sustainability right now,” Wallace said.