Fashion Brands That Embrace Resale

CONSUMING FASHION

Resale has always existed, but in recent times this type of practice has been extended and perfected in different areas, such as luxury brands, that far from seeing these new trends as an enemy, they see them as an opportunity, because they demonstrate that their products are of high quality and durable, in addition to being able to get products that are no longer on the market, sold out collaborations, collectible products or limited or vintage editions.

The RealReal specializes in buying and selling used luxury goods, including clothing and accessories. Founded in 2011 by Julie Wainwright, there you can find handbags and clothing brands. First joined by Burberry and Stella McCartney, other brands like Chanel and Gucci joined this platform later, confirming that the big fashion houses are increasingly joining the model of sustainable fashion. The RealReal attracts the millennial market or younger to enter the world of luxury fashion acquiring quality items and in many cases for a lower cost, although sometimes these products can be purchased at a higher cost than its original price because over time and well preserved, its value increases for being collection pieces or limited editions that are sold out in a short time.

This is because there is a large community of resellers, who are on the lookout for these exclusive sales and buy as many as possible and then make a profit from them.

ORIGINAL?

Many doubts may arise at the time of purchase, especially if it is online, but above all, guarantees are key to make your purchase. Brands are also concerned about it. They are interested in dominating the entire life cycle of the product to continue in the fight against counterfeiting, using technology like blockchain, records transactions in a secure digital database permanently. This helps brands, retailers and consumers easily verify its authenticity, all these share the information with their competitors. In this case, sellers and consumers would only have to compare the digital signature with entries in a decentralized database to verify the authenticity of a product.

You can easily find resellers on the internet that publish their products, but there are several platforms that help you to be more peaceful with your purchases. Like The RealReal, there are others like Levi's, a brand more accessible to the public. Levi's has joined the resale community, with its own platform because they are convinced that if we all replaced the purchase of a new item for a second hand one. 204 million kilos of waste would be saved.

"For every ton of cotton T-shirts reused, 13.2 tons of CO2e are saved, compared to less than 1 ton of CO2e saved by recycling the same amount"- Levi's.

The Kering group is betting on Vestiaire Collective. 178 million euros was the investment they made to finance the project as well as the "approved by the brand", which seeks to promote agreements with firms such as Alexander McQueen with which, for the purchase of second-hand items of the brand, you will receive credit to spend in the official stores of the company, in this way they can control the authenticity of resale items.

"Because your clothes still have life", is the motto of Isabel Marant Vintage, another of the platforms where you can sell or donate clothes of the brand and receive credit in exchange for their online stores or in physical store, the brand selects those donated items that can be restored and sold as if they were practically new, in addition that with the sales of second-hand clothing has created a fund for education and promote the craftsmanship of various indigenous communities helping women. 

Farfetch houses a large number of luxury brands and has services to prolong the life of your items. If you decide to use it to sell your items, it can give you an amount of money, which experts decide once the authenticity of the bag has been confirmed.

The world of resale does not end only in articles, as in the case of Nona Source, where the luxury group LVMH created this platform in 2021, selling textiles and quality leathers that their brands no longer use (Louis Vuitton, Celine, Fendi, Dior, Givenchy, Kenzo). These materials have come to be sold for almost 70% of their real value. Stella McCartney is one of those who already use the Nona Source website to obtain supplies.

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Carmen Espinoza
Luxiders Magazine