Southeast Asian online classified group Carousell has acquired Singapore fashion reseller channel Refash. The partnership will use the thrift brand’s strong offline retail presence to help accelerate its growth in the re-commerce space. 

Since its launch in 2015, the fashion thrift brand has expanded to 10 physical stores in Singapore and has processed an estimated 5 million pieces of pre-loved clothing from over 305 international and local fashion labels that it says would otherwise have been disposed of in landfills. 

“Through our physical thrift store network, we provide a much sought-after service for consumers to declutter their closets quickly and fuss-free,” said Aloysius Sng, founder of Refash. “Together with Carousell, we can meaningfully enable more to participate in both ends of the spectrum, to buy and sell secondhand fashion.”

Quek Siu Rui, co-founder and CEO of Carousell, said that with the company’s expertise in using technology and AI in the re-commerce marketplace, the group sees an immense opportunity in the partnership to make buying and selling simpler and more seamless for everyone. 

“We are privileged to partner with Aloysius and the Refash team, who share our passion of making secondhand the first choice and bring over seven years of experience in the fashion re-commerce space,” said Quek. “Above all, we are most excited about joining forces with a mission-oriented team to serve the community by making secondhand fashion more fuss-free and accessible.”

Following its partnership with Ox Street to offer authentication capabilities for secondhand streetwear, the acquisition underlines the group’s mission to “solve barriers of convenience and trust” in selling and buying secondhand. 

Refash would still continue to operate as its own brand despite its new owner, retaining its name, platform, and team.