Swedish childrenswear brand Polarn O. Pyret (PO.P) was crowned winner of the Best Circularity Initiative for its Second-Hand Service at the Drapers Sustainable Fashion Awards 2023. The Best Circularity initiative recognises brands that have made significant progress towards adopting a more circular business model in the past 12 months.

Fighting off competition from the likes of eBay, M&S, Barbour and Mulberry, PO.P was praised for putting circularity so clearly at the core of its business and growth plans with the data to back it up. Judges were also impressed at how the brand evidenced that a second-hand marketplace was resulting in fewer new products being made.

In a move hailed by industry experts, PO.P Second Hand was made available across the brand’s entire clothing collection in January 2023.

Raising the bar for re-commerce, PO.P is the only known major fashion brand to embed this service into its core business model. Customers can trade-in all outgrown PO.P clothing using a free returns service, cementing PO.P’s commitment to ensuring every garment is worn by at least three children.

Accepting everything for trade-in; from socks to swimwear, no matter where it’s bought from or how old it is, with guaranteed trade-in prices that are clear and fair. Every pre-loved PO.P item is then hand checked and thoroughly cleaned using an Ozone chamber to remove bacteria and odours.

Judged by an independent panel of experts, Drapers Sustainable Fashion Awards is a market-leading programme. Judging was underpinned by the UN-backed Sustainable Development Goals, which address the global challenges we face including those related to poverty, inequality, climate change and environmental degradation. The goal is to highlight those who are reducing the industry’s environmental impact and creating fairer working conditions across the supply chain.

Commenting on the win is PO.P UK MD, Mats Nilsson.

“Longevity has always been at the heart of our design ethos, and our commitment to make clothes that last at least three children is one of our core missions. With our now award-winning  Second-Hand Service, we’re not only guaranteeing this but extending the life of each garment even further.

“PO.P Second Hand wouldn’t be possible without our partners GXO (formerly Clipper), the force behind the scenes hand checking and rejuvenating items ready for new owners, and even setting up a photography studio to allow us to resell the products on our website. We are so grateful to GXO for working alongside us to make this happen. We also thank Tern, which supplies the app that allows our customers to easily trade in their used PO.P items.”

For further information on PO.P, please click here.