And why selling your unused fashion items can be good for the environment
Take a long hard look at your wardrobe and ask yourself this—when was the last time you felt like you had absolutely nothing to wear even though the overflowing racks of clothing and surplus of shoes and bags tell you otherwise?
According to Fanny Moizant, president and one of the six co-founders of luxury consignment retailer Vestiaire Collective, we effectively only utilize 40 per cent of our wardrobes. The other 60 per cent consists of seasonal pieces, impulse buys, one-off purchases for specific events or just items we forgot we had.
Inspired by modern day buying behaviours and a keen interest in re-joining the fashion industry after the birth of her children, Moizant banded together with five friends of hers to create a company that provided a sustainable way to consume fashion. While there’s been an encouraging growth in attitudes towards sustainability of late (both from brands as well as customers), Vestiaire Collective has been championing this movement for a decade since their inception in 2009. And with a recent report in March 2019 from retail analytics firm GlobalData predicting that the second-hand economy—valued at USD$24 billion as of 2018—will surpass fast fashion retailers by 1.5 times within the next 10 years, it seems like Moizant was on the right track all long.
(Related: Shop Rare Vintage Fashion Pieces From Vestaire Collective’s Collaboration With Byronesque)
In town to launch the site’s VIP Concierge Service in Singapore, we speak to Moizant on the challenges of the luxury resale market as well as consumer’s changing attitudes towards sustainability in fashion.
What made you decide to start Vestiaire Collective?
Fanny Moizant (FM) About 10 years ago, I came across an article in the French press about the “Recessionistas”, a group of women who were trying to resell their pre-loved items in the heart of the recession on their blogs. I thought this was an interesting phenomenon and had actually wanted to buy from them but it was very inefficient. You had to be the first to email them, reserve an item, and then send a cheque in the mail—I just didn’t have time for that. I thought it was a cool idea and the future of shopping, but because it was so inconvenient it was never going to take off. I was inspired to do something similar but on a wider scale and platform.
As the second-hand market was already pretty prevalent in Paris, how did you try to set yourself apart from those businesses?
FM We didn’t invent the second-hand market but we disrupted it. We brought trust because we were able to authenticate the items. Back then if you bought something from a site like Ebay there was no way of verifying its authenticity. If you went to a second-hand store, sometimes the items are not in the best condition. The shops were also very local to the market, and if you don’t live in the area you’re less likely to shop there. We wanted to elevate the way people shopped and help globalise the market.
