Online retailer, Ebay, encourages shoppers to sell their unloved apparel just in time for the new season. The campaign, ‘Turn Nothing to Wear into Something to Love’, was created by agency Dept promoting circular fashion, encouraging users to sell unloved clothes and buy second-hand.

Summer is fast approaching and many of us are switching out our Winter wardrobes for more season-appropriate attire, Ebay is challenging the ‘nothing to wear’ dilemma, whilst addressing the growing call for more sustainability in fashion. The platform promotes the power of reselling to make room for new items.

Research from the brand revealed that the UK has £16.3 billion worth of clothes that people own, but do not wear. It also showed that a majority of the nation (70%) only wears up to half their clothes daily.

Yet despite the amount of items people have in their wardrobes the common phrase, ‘I have nothing to wear’, reflects a lack of love for the items we already own.

To overcome both the issue of unworn clothes and a lack of inspiration, Ebay has created a campaign that feeds itself, very much in tune with its push toward a circular fashion economy. Already, 25% of the UK sells their unwanted items. Ebay is looking to expand this number with its latest campaign.

Consumers are encouraged to sell what they no longer wear, providing outfit inspiration for others who are buying second-hand on the online platform.

The campaign follows four stories of people facing fashion fatigue. A university student has a bedroom full of clothes, but simultaneously nothing to wear. That is, until she sells unloved garments and purchases new (second-hand) ones, with no selling or buying fees.

A similar tale unfolds for another woman as she gets ready to go out, searching through her wardrobe for something to wear and finding peace when old items are sold and new purchases are made.

The dad of two young girls is faced with a closet full of children’s clothes, which turns into a never-ending tunnel of garments. After selling from the pile of unworn items, he kits the girls out with matching co-ords bought on Ebay.

After being invited to a work Summer party and being told to “dress to impress”, a young man despairs, having nothing to wear. But when the Ebay inspiration hits him, he exchanges an unloved shirt for a trendy denim jacket.

The campaign drives home the idea that the clothes consumers own are not bad clothes, they are just no longer loved by their owners. Selling these items means they can find a new, loving home, and the sellers have space and funds for something new to them.

Four relatable stories are playfully told with fashionably stylised shots, in collaboration with director and style icon, Lou Escobar. The campaign comprises out-of-home, digital, radio, and TVC activations.

Fighting fashion fatigue

Nazia Du Bois, Marketing Director at Ebay UK, explained the insight behind the campaign, saying: “We’ve all had that ‘nothing to wear’ feeling and yet research shows most of us (70%) wear half or less than half of our wardrobes on a day-to-day basis”.

She continued, “Ebay is well positioned to encourage us all to act on this universal insight by listing your 'nothing to wear' wardrobe items so that they can become someone else's 'something to love', and you in turn can find what you really want to wear. It's a brand message that perfectly lands our belief that people should fill their lives with more of the things that they love - while also fuelling the circular fashion economy by driving seller supply and buyer demand through a single effective messaging strategy”.

Creative Director Bel Moretti at Dept added that the issue of fashion fatigue is a “problem that is about so much more than just finding a cute outfit or getting ready, this is about how we start every one of our days, Which is massive. Why start every day feeling like you have nothing to wear, when you could start your days with something you love?”.

As many consumers look to refresh their summer wardrobes, Ebay offers a sustainable and effective solution to fashion fatigue. Opposing the short life cycles of fast fashion garments, the ‘Turn Nothing to Wear into Something to Love’ campaign extends the wear-time of perfectly good, but currently unloved items. Relatable stories told through artistic shots encapsulate the brand’s on-beat approach to fashion.

The campaign demonstrates how Ebay understands its consumers, both in aesthetic and sustainable values. Promoting pre-loved items, creating a more circular economy Ebay injects some joy back into consumers' wardrobes.