The Retail Pilot Rebuilding Retail: How Emily Gittins Is Turning Fashion Waste Into Big Business
In this episode of The Retail Pilot, host Ken Pilot welcomes Emily Gittins, Co-founder and CEO of Archive — a technology company transforming fashion's relationship with resale. With a deep background in mathematics, environmental science, and business, Emily takes us through her journey from Cambridge to BCG to Google X, and eventually to co-founding Archive with a bold vision: enable brands to profit from resale and reduce fashion waste at scale.
Emily unpacks how Archive partners with top brands like The North Face, Oscar de la Renta, and New Balance to integrate branded resale into their business models — creating new revenue streams while advancing sustainability. Discover how her team is changing industry perceptions, scaling globally, and pioneering circular solutions in new verticals like home goods and electronics.
Whether you're a fashion exec, sustainability advocate, or retail tech enthusiast, this episode offers a masterclass in turning purpose into profit.
Show Notes:
🔹 Guest Background
Emily’s education: BA in Mathematics (Cambridge), MBA & MS in Environmental Science (Stanford)
Past experience: BCG, Google X, international development work on gender equity and mobile tech
🔹 Key Topics Covered
Why fashion is responsible for 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions
The myth of resale cannibalizing full-price sales
Archive’s unique tech platform for peer-to-peer resale, in-store trade-ins, and consignment
Partnerships with brands like Lululemon, Doc Martens, and M.M.LaFleur
The data-driven approach to pricing, SKU matching, and profit optimization in resale
Scaling Archive internationally and expanding into new categories
Raising $60M+ in funding and what’s next for the circular economy
🔹 Powerful Stats & Takeaways
100 billion clothing items are produced annually — enough to clothe the next 6 generations
Resale customers have 2–3x higher lifetime value than new-only customers
M.M.LaFleur saw a 3% revenue boost in year one from resale alone
Resale is expected to become a $350B market
🎙️ Listen Now:
Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and your favorite streaming platforms.
Learn More About Archive:
https://www.archiveresale.com
Sponsored by Firework
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