Irish brand Primark & Verte launch clothing swap shops in UK

Created in partnership with circular clothing company, Verte, the limited run of pop-ups will launch this month in select Primark stores across the UK, including London, Manchester and Birmingham.

Where to find your local Swap Shop

The first Primark swap shop event will kick off on Friday 13th September at Primark in Westfield Stratford, London, as a part of London Fashion Week’s City-Wide Celebration 2024. The swap shop will be open on the ground floor and runs for three days until Sunday 15th September.

Mancunians can also rejoice as the swap shop will arrive next in Primark’s Manchester Market Street store. Customers and pre-loved shoppers can find the exchanges on the store’s lower level on Monday 16th and Tuesday 17th September.

Birmingham fashionistas will also have their chance to enjoy Primark's swap shop pop-up when it arrives in Birmingham High Street on Wednesday 16th and Thursday 17th October.

How to Swap & Shop

The new experience will allow swappers to bring up to five items of adult clothing*, bags, hats or scarves of any brand in good condition, to be assessed and swapped for digital tokens on the Verte app.

The digital tokens can be used to purchase a pre-loved item of clothing from Verte’s collection. A special gold token is awarded to luxury clothing items presented in almost-new condition, which can be traded exclusively for other gold items.

Any un-swapped clothes will be kept for the next swap shop event, donated to local charities in the area or placed in Primark’s textile donation boxes, available in all stores across the UK.

Swappers are encouraged to register for the event in advance to avoid disappointment:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/verte-33432022375

Director of Primark Cares, Lynne Walker said: “We truly believe in helping people to love their clothes for longer and our latest partnership with Verte allows us to do just that.

Welcoming Verte into our stores will help us to better engage with a community of like-minded fashion lovers who really care about where their clothes will go to next. We hope our pop-ups will encourage more people to participate in the growing circular fashion economy and with an opportunity to do so in their local Primark store. We've all got clothes in our wardrobe we keep meaning to wear but never get around to, so we’re excited to see Verte give new life to the clothing swapped by our customers and colleagues.”

Founder of Verte, Jessica Brunt said: “We’re really excited to be partnering with Primark on this swap shop initiative because they are passionate about driving in-store experiences, not only in London but across the UK. Swapping is a great way to access pre-loved in an affordable and inclusive way and the more people who are exposed to the idea, the better it is for the planet and for the future of shopping.”

Love your clothes for longer

The initiative forms part of Primark’s ongoing commitment to make pre-loved fashion more accessible and to encourage customers to love their clothing for longer.

The fashion retailer has been making pre-loved clothing more accessible to its customers in store since 2022. It’s partnered with the Vintage Wholesale Company to offer unique vintage clothes via Wornwell, which is currently in 10 stores across the UK.

Primark’s ‘Love it for Longer’ repair workshop programme runs all year round and teaches shoppers basic repair and sewing techniques. They’re available to customers completely free of charge in selected stores and accessible to everyone online via easy-to-follow repair videos on Primark.com.

Note: The content of this press release has not been edited by Fibre2Fashion staff.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RM)