Sustainable Style: Shop and sell ‘better than new’ with Covet Clothing

“Our mission is to make it easier for busy women to monetise their unused wardrobe pieces and to provide them with beautiful pre-owned fashion options.” Andrea Burrell runs Newmarket-based Covet Clothing, an online ‘better than new’ boutique where you can both buy and sell

Introduce our readers to Covet Clothing. What makes it stand out from the preloved crowd?
Covet Clothing is an online platform that allows you to buy and sell high-quality, pre-owned fashion. We cater to a wide range of styles for women aged 25 to 75, including maternity wear and plus sizes. We are also slowly building up our children’s collection.
What sets us apart is our easy selling process. You can simply send us your preloved items and we'll handle the rest, from conducting quality checks to setting reasonable prices and marketing the items on our website and social media platforms. We also offer a 30-day, no-hassle return policy for buyers to ensure their satisfaction with their preloved purchases.
Our mission is to make it easier for busy women to monetise their unused wardrobe pieces and to provide them with beautiful pre-owned fashion options that align with their personal style, while also promoting sustainable fashion practices that go beyond the superficiality of fast fashion.

How and when did you launch the brand? It's sister to your interiors brand, isn't it?
I launched my website at the beginning of October 2023. I have slowly advertised it in local publications and across social media. And yes — you’re right — it is the sister to my interior design brand, Covet Interiors (covetinteriors.ltd).

We know your daughters were an inspiration for Covet Clothing - tell us about that?
I have two teenage daughters, and it was their frugality as well as their desire to be sustainable that really inspired the start of Covet Clothing. They love to shop, but they also hate spending their own money! So they choose to buy secondhand items. This inspired me to create Covet Clothing, and if I’m honest, I’m following their example and haven’t purchased anything that isn’t preloved in well over a year.

To rewind: what sparked your own love of fashion?
Throughout my life, fashion has always been important to me. While I wouldn't necessarily call myself a fashionista, I've always made a conscious effort to pay attention to what I wear. As I've grown older, I've learned to embrace my own unique style, and I tend to avoid following fashion trends. While this may sometimes cause my daughters to cringe, I find that wearing what I like and what makes me feel comfortable and confident is the ultimate key to personal style.

Fashion has the power to make us feel good, as well as look good, hasn't it?
I believe that all women should feel free to embrace their own sense of style and wear what makes them feel good. By doing so, we become our own trendsetters and radiate confidence and beauty. There's nothing more attractive than a woman who feels comfortable and confident in her own skin, and I believe that fashion plays an important role in achieving that. So let's all embrace our own unique sense of style and wear what makes us feel beautiful and confident!

How big a climate issue is the fashion industry?
Given that it is said to emit 10% of global carbon dioxide emissions, I would say huge. Moreover, the fast fashion industry is responsible for the production of low-quality clothing that is worn for shorter periods, leading to an increase in waste that ends up in landfills. Additionally, fast fashion is responsible for the release of microplastics into our oceans, because the materials they use are plastic-based and non-biodegradable. If you think that fast fashion giants produce tens of thousands of items daily, it’s shocking and disturbing. The impact on the climate is profound.

Is shopping and wearing preloved the answer?
Alongside buying quality over quantity, it’s definitely one of the answers. By shopping preloved at Covet Clothing you are getting quality preloved items, some of which are like - or are still - new! You are extending the life of each piece you purchase, all while finding your own personal style.

Readers can sell as well as buy through you, can't they? How does it work?
It’s so easy! I send a welcome pack, which includes a courier bag and instructions. Readers can stuff it full of their preloved items and let me know when it’s ready to go. I send out a prepaid shipping label and, once I receive it, I take care of the rest.

When sourcing stock, what makes a piece a fit for the Covet collection? What can shoppers expect to find hanging on your virtual rails?
A piece fit for Covet Clothing is one that is in excellent condition with very few signs of wear, is stain-free and has been unaltered, has all of its care tags and labels, and has been washed or professionally laundered. When deciding if a piece should be resold, the question I ask myself is always whether it is in the condition and of the quality I would expect if I were buying it? That’s our benchmark when we conduct our quality control.

Who's your customer? We know you think of fashion as an expression of 'personal brand rather than following trends'?
My customer is anyone who is looking for high-quality preloved clothing that matches their personal style. Fashion is a way of expressing our individuality. It should be an extension of our inner self, showcasing our creativity, confidence, and personality. It should not be controlled by fashion trends, designers, or catwalks. It should be controlled by us. We need to reclaim our power and wear clothes that make us feel good, rather than what others tell us to wear. Each of us is unique, and our style should reflect our uniqueness.

If you could add a single item from the Covet collection to your own wardrobe, here and now, what would it be and why?
That is a tough question, as I love a lot of the pieces I’ve currently got in our collection. I really love the red Hobbs A-line dress — it’s so classic and oh-so Audrey Hepburn. And I have this most amazing Tiffany Rose maternity gown that would make any pregnant woman feel like a princess - though I’m definitely beyond that point in my life!

Where can we find you? And where can we buy?
You can both buy and sell by visiting covetclothing.com. Follow @covet_clothing.uk for updates, too.