Facing the challenge of not being perceived as a credible destination for high-end fashion and vintage clothing — particularly among young, environmentally-focused people — eBay worked with former 1960s Vogue model Twiggy on a campaign that showcased how it is the ideal place for shopping sustainable fashion.
eBay is home to millions of pre-owned and vintage fashion pieces but lacked fashion credentials. The online e-commerce platform was not perceived as a credible shopping destination for high-end fashion or authentic goods.
Additionally, with fast fashion contributing to 92 million tons of textile waste each year, circular fashion was becoming more important than ever. The new generations were embracing vintage fashion and felt strongly about creating a more sustainable world. This presented eBay an opportunity.
Gen Z is especially attuned to the sustainability issues related to fast fashion. In fact, 64 percent of gen Z surveyed look to shop secondhand before buying it new. So, the challenge was determining how eBay could eBay promote sustainability while establishing its own fashion credentials.
The audience for this effort was sustainability-focused members of gen Z who still wanted to look fashionable.
eBay partnered with Vogue and circled back over 100 years of their archives and discovered that almost everything in the pages of the magazine's issues could be sourced on eBay, today. So, to promote sustainable luxury fashion that's pre-owned and vintage, eBay invited Twiggy — a popular model from the 60s — back to Vogue to recreate her iconic photoshoot from 1967, using the same vintage accessories she had then, only this time they would be sourced from eBay.
Every detail of the original Twiggy shoot with Vogue was carefully recreated — from matching the same products from 1967, to the pose, make-up, product placements, and final layout and design.
Dubbed "Twiggy Full Circle," the new image appeared as a double page spread in both the October issues of Vogue and British Vogue, along with multiple digital touchpoints. In the magazine spread, the original shot from 1967 was printed on the left-hand side, while the recreation was printed on the right. The print visual was then turned into a digital asset and spread across many touchpoints, including Vogue's and Twiggy's social channels.
eBay made all the global fashion headlines, appearing organically in The New York Times, The Independent, Daily Mail, CNN, and The Telegraph. The campaign inserted eBay and sustainability into the fashion conversation, raising thousands of dollars for the non-profit charity, Canopy Planet Foundation.
The campaign garnered:
The campaign reached millions and inspired consumers to not only think more sustainable when shopping for clothes and accessories, but celebrated the fact that eBay featured a 73-year-old model, with comments like, "Thank you for seeing us #AgingOutLoud."
