Sustainable style starts here: Inside Manchester's 'ReMarket'
- maisiemunch
- Apr 17
- 3 min read
The world is dominated by fast fashion and unsustainable clothing, but every piece has the potential to have a second life. In Manchester, one store is reshaping the ways we think about fashion, building not just a shop but creating a community rooted in sustainability and inclusion.
I discovered ReMarket when it opened a year and a half ago, and it immediately caught my attention. As someone who loves second-hand and vintage shopping, this store was my ideal day out. Walking in felt like stepping into a treasure hunt with dozens of rails packed with unique, one-of-a-kind pieces just waiting to be discovered. The store's potential was clear from the start. Now, a year and a half later ReMarket has grown in popularity and has firmly earned its place on any Manchester must-visit list.
Sophie Jones, co-founder of ReMarket explained to me that it began as just one shop, but the aim was "to give smaller vendors a chance and a retail space, without it being thousands of pounds". Now ReMarket is made up of over 30 different vendors, offering homemade, pre-loved and vintage goods. With such a wide range of sellers under one roof, the space feels incredibly diverse, with a real mix of styles that cater to all kinds of tastes and people.
So, how do ReMarket choose their vendors? Sophie explained that ReMarket "mainly focuses on sustainable products" and doesn't "really sell anything brand new, as that's just not what we stand for". This honestly feels like a breath of fresh air in a world flooded with fast fashion. Instead, you'll find everything from "smaller antique collectables" to "vintage resellers", making every corner of the shop feel like its own little discovery.
But what really sets ReMarket apart is their 'rent a rail' section. This space is dedicated to all kinds of handmade clothes, giving small creators a chance to showcase their work without the huge costs of running a shop. It's not just established sellers either. Sophie told me that even uni students are getting involved who have just started making clothes. As she put it: "I think that's the special part for us, the level of support that we can offer people".
Behind the scenes there’s a huge amount of work that goes into keeping the shop running and maintaining its standards. When it comes to sourcing clothes for her own section, Sophie explained that it involves "many, many hours of people putting massive piles of clothes on tables," carefully handpicking each piece before it’s washed, steamed, and quality checked. Only then is everything priced and security tagged, ready to make its way onto the shop floor. It really shows how much care goes into every single piece in the shop.
For me, what matters most is sustainability—especially with the rapid rise of the fast fashion industry. It’s a huge global issue, with fast fashion responsible for around 10% of global carbon emissions, more than international flights and shipping combined. Brands like ReMarket are a step in the right direction, creating a more circular approach to fashion, where less waste ends up in landfill.
When I asked Sophie how ReMarket is tackling the fast fashion crisis, she said that "mostly for us, we keep trying to think of new avenues to stop things from being thrown away". And it goes beyond fashion. The warehouses they source from are filled with everything from accessories to soft toys and ReMarket is “very conscious” about finding ways to resell even the most "different products". It’s this constant effort to rethink what can be reused that really sets them apart.
Beyond the shop, though, is what I find most exciting: the flea markets. As a car boot sale enthusiast finding out that ReMarket hosts them twice a month had me thrilled. There’s something about scanning through rails, hunting for bargains, and doing it all right in the heart of Manchester that just feels unbeatable. Who wouldn’t love it? Having started only five months ago, the markets are already growing, and Sophie described them as "building an even bigger community of people that can come together and do the same thing". It’s events like these that show how second-hand shopping can be social, accessible, and genuinely exciting.
ReMarket is one great example of how the fashion industry can be reimagined- creating a sustainable, creative and diverse space. It's somewhere shoppers can build their dream wardrobe in an environmentally friendly way, while giving independent sellers a platform to showcase their work and grow their brand.
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