Ozempic Has Caused Thousands to Lose Weight Dramatically—Now Their Closets Are for Sale

Novo Nordisk, the maker of Ozempic, just released its first-quarter results, and they’re eye-popping: $4.4 billion in revenue, up 14% from the same period last year. That surge has sent the company’s stock price soaring.

But the more interesting story is why.

The answer is simple: demand for obesity treatments is up 67%. The Ozempic revolution—and the rise of other GLP-1 drugs—hasn’t just reshaped the pharmaceutical industry. It’s starting to reshape closets, thrift stores, and the resale economy.

The secondhand shift. Back in 2014, secondhand platforms started noticing a shift in the types of clothing people were posting. Over a two-year span, listings for plus-size women’s clothing exploded. Size 3XL listings jumped 103%, size 4XL by 80%, and size 5XL by 73%.

But that’s not all. Poshmark reported a 78% spike in listings that referenced “weight loss” in the title or description. Luxury resale site Vestiaire Collective noted a similar trend, and donation-based sellers like GoodwillFinds and peer-to-peer platforms like Vinted say they’re seeing a noticeable uptick in larger-size items.

Coincidence? Maybe not. It’s impossible to draw a direct line from every listing to Ozempic or similar medications. But the connection isn’t hard to see. As Fortune recently reported, one in eight American adults is now taking a GLP-1 drug such as semaglutide. And that number is growing.

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Whether it’s causation or correlation, the weight loss wave is being felt—and not just at the pharmacy counter.

Brands are adapting. With resale volumes rising and closets clearing out, brands have started leaning into the shift. Levi’s, Patagonia, and Carhartt WIP have launched in-house resale programs to take part in their products’ “second lives.” It’s a smart move. As Vogue Business notes, resale has been one of the only consistent growth areas in fashion. The secondhand market has doubled since 2021.

But it’s not all upside. The problem? When thousands of people drop multiple sizes and purge their wardrobes, resale platforms get flooded with large-size clothing—far more than the market can absorb. Supply is high, but demand isn’t keeping up.

As a result, thrift stores and resale platforms are struggling with an inventory imbalance. And that may signal something deeper: a looming shift in the fashion industry's sizing, production, and merchandising strategies.

In a world drowning in data, it’s ironic that secondhand platforms—of all things—were the first to detect the shift. But in hindsight, it almost seems obvious.

Especially for luxury brands.

Image | Rageu Rajo (Unsplash)

Related | ‘Ozempic Pills’ Are Just Around the Corner—And They’re Not From Ozempic’s Maker