This Extremely-Luxurious Secondhand Retailer Needs to Be the Hermès of Resale
On an in any other case typical Friday morning throughout Paris Trend Week in late September, with flotillas of black vehicles arriving at salubrious venues scattered throughout town, a showroom within the sixteenth arrondissement was about to host a special type of coveted ticketed occasion: a visit again in time — particularly, to the vaunted Phoebe Philo period at Celine (a.okay.a. Céline).
“Folks went nuts for these items,” says Sofia Bernardin, co-founder of Re-See, which hosted the weekend-long archive sale devoted to the Philo years on the French heritage model at its newly-opened Paris showroom. “There are positively manufacturers that observe developments, and there are manufacturers that target longevity and timelessness — that is what Phoebe Philo did.”
So as to make the occasion potential, the Paris-based on-line luxurious consignment platform collaborated with Martina Lohoff, the founding father of Outdated Céline Archive, an Instagram web page that handpicks and sells items from the British designer’s tenure on the home. Lohoff — who lives and works in Germany — contributed 100 gadgets from her private assortment; Re-See sourced round 100 extra from different distributors throughout the globe. Items from a few of the most epoch-defining reveals have been up for grabs for collectors and followers (just a few hundred clients), with costs starting from €500 to €1,900.
The Yves Klein physique print gown from Céline Spring 2017 assortment by Phoebe Philo, re-sold by Re-See.
Photograph: Courtesy of Re-See
Bernardin, a former promoting government at American Vogue, based Re-See with Sabrina Marshall, who was the style editor at Self Service, in 2013. The enterprise was born from conversations between the 2 Paris-based People concerning the collections they missed out on once they have been younger trend assistants with meager salaries. Celine is only one of a lot of luxurious manufacturers it shares on its web site.
“What if there was a spot the place you would discover all of these iconic moments in trend with out having to sift by hours of junk on eBay?,” asks Bernardin over Zoom from her workplace in Paris. (Absent from the decision: Marshall, who was at a consumer assembly.) “A spot that was actually curated and introduced again all of those moments in a single.”
Initially, Re-See sourced its stock from contacts in Paris, in addition to the founders’ native cities, New York (Bernardin) and Los Angeles (Marshall). Phrase of the mission rapidly unfold by the business, which enabled connections with varied editors, stylists, designers and collectors in every nook of the globe. Immediately, Re-See counts 20 staff in its Paris workplace, and works with a crew of ambassadors stationed in key cities like New York, Zurich, Seoul and Tokyo — starting from girls of their 20s to septuagenarian former VIP consumer managers at luxurious boutiques, who activate their networks to provide an in depth catalog of trend, equipment and fantastic jewellery, starting from Thirties silk robes to Nineteen Seventies Celine to 2017 Balenciaga.
Not like on different platforms the place distributors will add pictures of merchandise, promote and bundle them themselves, Re-See streamlines the method by visiting purchasers’ homes and serving to clear their closets or making it simple to ship items on to the Paris showroom, the place they’re inspected earlier than being photographed for the positioning. Each bit undergoes a restoration from the Re-See crew, respiration new life into previous clothes and making certain they maintain their authentic worth to the best diploma potential.
A bottle service bag from Chanel’s Fall 1994 assortment by Karl Lagerfeld, presently in inventory at Re-See for €12,000.
Photograph: Courtesy of Re-See
Bernardin and Marshall wished to differentiate Re-See in a rising resale market that features gamers like Depop, Vestiaire Collective, Grailed and The RealReal by creating an ultra-luxury, fashion-forward resale setting with inspiring and authenticated stock — a spot the place you can’t simply store previous collections, but additionally come again and find out about them. The purpose is not to get a reduced merchandise, essentially (although it is potential), however to search out those that received away.
“After we labored in trend editorial, you needed to have the newest collections as they dropped in retailer,” Bernardin says. “When the season ended and the second was over, you couldn’t be seen carrying them anymore. There’s one thing so unsuitable about that as a result of when you might have these superb, iconic items, it is best to have the ability to put on them for years.”
Earlier this yr, WWD reported that whereas the amount of transactions is smaller at Re-See than its opponents, its common basket is larger than the business norm, rising to only beneath €1,300 within the first half of 2022. Its bestselling manufacturers are Hermès, Chanel, Celine, Saint Laurent and Balenciaga; its high markets are the U.S., France and the UK.
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Bernardin emphasizes how Re-See witnessed “an enormous change in momentum” in the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, as shopper mentality round resale utterly modified. Individuals who by no means actually thought-about shopping for secondhand earlier than felt like they wished to positively contribute to the setting by their consumption habits. However, individuals who by no means thought of promoting their wares have been spurred on by a Marie Kondo-esqe need to purge pointless and undesirable belongings, and commenced exploring resale throughout international lockdowns.
“Any taboo was washed away,” Bernardin says. “It catapulted us into an entire new universe of resale.”
In accordance with a report from Boston Consulting Group in partnership with Vestiaire Collective, the worldwide attire, footwear, and equipment resale market is estimated to be valued between $100 to $120 billion — and it is “almost tripled in dimension since 2020, and reveals no indicators of slowing down.” Because of this, we have seen increasingly more manufacturers launching their very own resale companies.
Even on the fast-fashion finish of issues, Zara is organising methods for UK buyers to resell, restore or donate clothes purchased in shops, as a part of a bid to mitigate its environmental influence. Ditto with Fairly Little Factor, which launched a marketplace-style platform to permit clients to promote “pre-loved” gadgets.
“For us, it is not nearly promoting somebody’s secondhand garments,” Bernardin says. “It is about inspiring individuals to need to store higher.”
Re-See is having some “fascinating dialogues” with manufacturers who’re contemplating getting into the house, in line with Bernardin, however she stays tight-lipped almost about names. This month, although, it introduced a partnership with Alaïa — one among its high performers since its launch — on an unique sale of curated items from its archive.
In an announcement, Alaïa’s CEO Myriam Serrano stated the collaboration with Re-See is a “important initiative to place circularity into motion.”
A marketing campaign picture for Re-See’s partnership with Alaïa.
Photograph: Courtesy of Re-See
Even with backers eyeing up potential funding, Bernardin is forthright about her and Marshall’s intentions: Since day one, they’ve refused capital from traders and types that they felt weren’t a superb match. (In September 2022, Re-See launched a funding spherical because it eyes international enlargement.)
“We love forming these partnerships with these individuals which are as obsessed with trend and these moments in trend as we’re,” she says, close to collaborators like Alexander Fury, with whom Re-See hosted an occasion in Paris in July showcasing his extraordinary high fashion assortment.
With a stateside outpost within the works, Bernardin displays upon the final 9 years and the gradual and regular ascendance of Re-See.
“Luxurious is a brick-by-brick method,” she says. “And a very powerful factor is to have a viewpoint. We need to be the Chanel or Hermès of resale, and that takes time.”
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