Pre-Loved Podcast (Substack hub)
S10 Ep8 DEPOP: Cathy Moscardini, Depop's Head of Sustainability - on Measuring Whether Secondhand Displaces New Production, and the Power of Clothing with "Emotional Durability."
Why It Matters
Understanding whether resale actually reduces new garment production is crucial for policymakers, brands, and consumers seeking genuine climate solutions in fashion. The episode highlights how emotional connections to clothing can be a powerful lever for scaling circular economies, making the discussion timely as resale platforms like Depop become central to the industry's transition toward sustainability.
Key Takeaways
- •Depop tracks resale impact versus new production.
- •Emotional durability drives lasting consumer attachment to clothes.
- •Community marketplace fuels 136M secondhand items sold.
- •Resale now a business imperative, not just ethical.
- •eBay acquisition aims to scale circular fashion.
Pulse Analysis
Depop has become a data‑driven leader in the circular fashion economy, developing methodologies with partners like WRAP to quantify how resale displaces new production. By tracking item lifecycles and measuring carbon savings, the platform proves that secondhand purchases are more than a trend—they are a measurable reduction in the industry’s environmental footprint. This rigorous approach gives brands and investors concrete evidence that resale can meaningfully lower resource use.
The conversation highlights emotional durability as a core sustainability lever. When shoppers form personal stories around vintage pieces, they keep garments in use longer, reducing turnover. Depop’s community‑powered marketplace, with 56 million users and over 136 million items given a second life, turns browsing into a social experience where style inspiration and personal connection replace the stigma of secondhand. The pandemic accelerated this shift, turning phones into discovery tools and embedding resale into mainstream culture.
From a business perspective, resale has moved from a niche ethical add‑on to a strategic imperative. eBay’s $1.2 billion cash acquisition of Depop underscores the market’s growth potential and the need for scalable, tech‑enabled platforms. Depop plans to deepen systemic solutions—integrating repair, rental, and AI‑curated recommendations—to make circular choices the default. As consumer demand for sustainable models rises, the blend of community, data, and emotional storytelling positions Depop to lead the next phase of fashion’s circular transformation.
Episode Description
Today, we're chatting with Cathy Moscardini, Depop's Head of Sustainability. Listeners of this show, you of course know Depope – it's one of the most culturally influential resale platforms in the world. Founded in 2011 with a mission to make fashion circular, the community-powered marketplace has grown to 56 million registered users, with over 136 million items given a second life through its platform.
Part vintage marketplace, part social community, as well as being a launchpad for many young entrepreneurs, Depop has helped reshape what it means to shop, sell, and style yourself in the digital age.
Cathy's path here was anything but linear. A languages graduate who spent time in Chinese factories and volunteering in Nicaragua, she saw firsthand the vast distance between where fashion is made and where its consequences are felt. That experience lit a fire that took her into sustainability strategy eventually at Depop, where she's been focused on one of the most important questions in the circular economy: is resale actually reducing consumption, or just reshaping it?
During her time at Depop, Cathy has led the work of quantifying and communicating the real impact of resale — which has included developing industry-aligned methodologies in partnership with organizations like WRAP as well as other resale platforms, and proving with data that buying secondhand is not just a trend, but a meaningful lever for changing fashion's environmental footprint. She's also the person making sure that sustainability isn't siloed in one corner of Depop's business, but woven into every product decision, every marketing campaign, and every feature designed to make it easier and more exciting to choose pre-loved.
Those tapped into the universe of Pre-Loved will be aware that last month eBay has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Depop from Etsy, who purchased Depop in 2021, for approximately a $1.2 billion cash deal – we've covered this news as it unfolded. At this time, there's not much more to add, because while eBay and Etsy's Board of Directors unanimously approved the deal, it will not close until the second quarter of this year, subject to closing conditions and regulatory approvals.
Instead, on today's episode, we talk about what it actually takes to shift consumer behavior at scale, why emotional connection to our clothing is in fact a sustainability strategy, and what the data really says about whether secondhand shopping is displacing new production. We also get into the culture of resale — how it's moved from the margins to the mainstream — and what Cathy believes needs to happen next to truly make fashion circular.
Let's dive right in.
Comments
Want to join the conversation?
Loading comments...