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Vestiaire Collective Is Leading A Fashion Resale Revolution

Luxury bags for half the price? Count us in.

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.

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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, โ€œLong Live Fashionโ€.

Bag
(Credit: Source: Getty)
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The sentiment is simple: with 92 million tonnes of textile waste tossed into landfill each year, itโ€™s time to extend the lives of our clothes. Resale platforms offer a new circular model โ€“ and let you indulge your fashion habit without adding to that alarming garment mountain.

โ€œSince the inception of Vestiaire Collective, weโ€™ve always been driven by a desire to break the rules โ€ฆ Itโ€™s part of our DNA to challenge the status quo and rethink the way people consume fashion for now and for a better future,โ€ says Fanny Moizant, co-founder and president of the platform. โ€œToday, we want to celebrate our global community of fashion lovers as they help transform the fashion industry for a more sustainable future.โ€

The campaign also introduces โ€œThe Collectiveโ€, five puppets created from recycled fashion, each representing a different aesthetic and showcasing the wide spectrum of contemporary second-hand. Thereโ€™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.

Bag
(Credit: Source: Getty)

Shop the curated edits, or browse freely for pieces ranging from mid-level designer to downright decadent. โ€œThe most expensive piece we ever sold was a Hermes Birkin bag priced at $195,000AU,โ€ shares Moizant, adding that Vestiaire Collective has a painstaking authentication process, with specialised centres in France, the US, Hong Kong and the UK.

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Stats show that the resale market is rising rapidly. โ€œItโ€™s growing 20 times faster than the fashion industry overall,โ€ says Moizant. โ€œWe 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.โ€

Second-hand is no longer second best, as proven by the Vestiaire Collective offering โ€“ and with cast-offs this covetable, why wouldnโ€™t you try your hand at modern thrifting? Long live fashion.

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