A Dior Saddle bag splashed in shameless noughties monogram. The Fendi Baguette, slung by Carrie Bradshaw in the year 2000 and 2021 alike. A new-season Bottega Veneta pouch for a fraction of the retail price.
Scrolling through Vestiaire Collective is like stumbling upon a second-hand sartorial wonderland, a treasure trove of preloved Prada and salvaged Saint Laurent. Except here, there are no musty smells or moth-eaten cardigans.
Founded in 2009 to help stylish Parisienne women clean out their closets, the resale shopping app has flourished into a global powerhouse with 15 million members and a catalogue of 3 million luxury pieces.
And today, it launches its new brand identity, “Long Live Fashion”.
The sentiment is simple: with 92 million tonnes of textile waste tossed into landfill each year, it’s time to extend the lives of our clothes. Resale platforms offer a new circular model – and let you indulge your fashion habit without adding to that alarming garment mountain.
“Since the inception of Vestiaire Collective, we’ve always been driven by a desire to break the rules … It’s part of our DNA to challenge the status quo and rethink the way people consume fashion for now and for a better future,” says Fanny Moizant, co-founder and president of the platform. “Today, we want to celebrate our global community of fashion lovers as they help transform the fashion industry for a more sustainable future.”
The campaign also introduces “The Collective”, five puppets created from recycled fashion, each representing a different aesthetic and showcasing the wide spectrum of contemporary second-hand. There’s Miss Classique, who presents an edit of polished classics (think Max Mara trenches and Celine totes); and Lady Green, who likes low-impact vegan leather and Vivienne Westwood statement-makers.
Shop the curated edits, or browse freely for pieces ranging from mid-level designer to downright decadent. “The most expensive piece we ever sold was a Hermes Birkin bag priced at $195,000AU,” shares Moizant, adding that Vestiaire Collective has a painstaking authentication process, with specialised centres in France, the US, Hong Kong and the UK.
Stats show that the resale market is rising rapidly. “It’s growing 20 times faster than the fashion industry overall,” says Moizant. “We recently conducted a global survey exploring consumer awareness and attitudes about resale, and over 40 per cent said they now buy and sell more pre-owned clothing than they did five years ago.”
Second-hand is no longer second best, as proven by the Vestiaire Collective offering – and with cast-offs this covetable, why wouldn’t you try your hand at modern thrifting? Long live fashion.
