Pre-loved fashion is a hot trend that has now become mainstream. Globally, the market grew by 15% in 2024 to reach $227 billion, and it is projected to almost double to $367 billion by 2029*.
Keeping pace here in South Africa, the country’s leading online resale fashion platform, Yaga, continues to double in size annually and has secured a further €4m (R80 million) in funding to drive the locally-led resale fashion boom.
“Second-hand fashion is no longer a niche, it’s a global phenomenon and fast becoming the first choice for millions of people,” says Aune Aunapuu, CEO and founder of Yaga. “It’s more than a trend – it’s a movement in line with the global sustainability shift and our rapid growth in South Africa shows that the resale fashion movement is resonating strongly locally.”
“While making fashion more accessible and promoting sustainable fashion, Yaga is also opening economic opportunities in the second-hand fashion industry,” explains Aunapuu. “Items on Yaga are easily accessible online and typically 50-80% cheaper than new. More than 6 million fashion items have been given a new life through Yaga over the last few years, and over €80 million has been earned by sellers on Yaga globally.”
Yaga’s pre-loved fashion buying-and-selling platform is safe and user-friendly, with an escrow-based payment system and localised logistics to protect buyers and sellers. Described as a mix between Instagram and eBay, Yaga allows users to browse and purchase products in a visual feed, or to sell pre-loved items by creating their own personal Yaga online stores.
Yaga’s success continues to attract attention from international investors, recently enabling it to raise a further €4m in funding to grow its community, in addition to the €3.2 million previously raised. This funding round was led by Specialist VC, with participation from H&M Group Ventures, Trind Ventures, Startup Wise Guys, and angel investors, demonstrating strong confidence in the pre-loved fashion market and in Yaga.
“We strongly believe in the team behind Yaga, which has clearly shown capabilities to scale its marketplace for pre-loved fashion – one of the fastest-growing business sectors within the fashion industry,” said Nanna Andersen, Managing Director of H&M Group’s business area New Growth & Ventures. “Their presence on the African continent is also a strong complement to H&M Group’s existing second-hand initiatives in other parts of the world.”
“The funding will help to strengthen our role in South Africa, grow our team, improve local logistics and payment systems, and expand into new regions,” concludes Aunapuu. “Thanks to our global investors, we are now able to further expand our community and make resale fashion even more accessible.”
For more information on Yaga, see yaga.co.za.
