The rise of secondhand luxury over the past decade has been unparalleled and the want and desire to own brand-new luxury items is a thing of the past. Now estimated to be a multi-billion-dollar arm of the fashion industry, last year alone the secondhand luxury market saw a huge increase of 18 per cent from $36.1 billion in 2020 to $37.3 billion, according to Statista. It’s expected to increase twofold by 2026 to an estimated global value of $77 billion.
With dedicated sites for pre-loved goods rising threefold including Vestiaire Collective, The Luxury Closet, Depop, The RealReal, Luxury Promise, Rotaro and more, it’s also a market big e-commerce sites have noticed. FARFETCH, one of the leading luxury fashion e-commerce sites, is one such key player that is paving the way in the luxury market. Just recently, the London-based e-commerce giant acquired resale platform Luxclusif, a leading tech business-to-business platform enabling the sale and acquisition of secondhand luxury goods ranging from auctions to e-commerce platforms to retailers and more worldwide.
Not only is the secondhand luxury fashion industry evidently a booming business, but it’s also encouraging consumers to be savvier and smarter when it comes to the items they invest it. In turn, it’s a far more sustainable way to shop and slows down the trend cycle. With the exponential growth of the secondhand luxury fashion industry set to catapult in the coming years, Emirates Woman decided to delve deep into the platforms that are the most trustworthy in the business and are sure to bring you the very best of what pre-loved luxury goods has to offer from bags to clothes to jewellery to watches and more.
Vestiaire Collective
Arguably the leading platform when it comes to the resale of luxury goods, Vestiaire Collective first launched in 2009 in Paris. Now, 12 years on, it has become a global phenomenon when it comes to pre-loved luxury with offices in Paris, New York City, Hong Kong and Singapore, as well as a tech hub in Berlin. With an estimated inventory of three million items and over half a million new listings every month, it’s clear to see the app has spearheaded the sustainable fashion movement.
The RealReal
Founded by Julie Wainwright in 2011, The RealReal is the leading luxury resale site in the USA and is first and foremost an online hub for secondhand luxury goods. However, The RealReal diversified its offering in 2017 launching its first brick and mortar store in New York City and a second in Los Angeles the following year. As of 2022, The RealReal now has 16 retail stores across the USA in cities including Miami, Florida, Austin, Atlanta, Texas, Georgia and more.
FARFETCH
Continuing to champion sustainable ways of shopping, leading e-commerce platform FARFETCH launched its Second Life arm last year, first in Europe and the USA, eventually arriving in the Middle East in October 2021. The new service available in the region is being run in partnership with The Luxury Closet and will enable consumers in the UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to trade in their designer handbags in exchange for credit to be used towards future purchases on FARFETCH. At the time, FARFETCH’s Chief Commercial and Sustainability Officer, Giorgio Belloli, explained moving towards a more sustainable model in fashion was “critical”, and the secondhand model is one of the most important ways to champion this. “Extending the useful life of fashion items is absolutely critical to the sustainability of the industry,” he said. “Enabling services, like FARFETCH Second Life, that make it easy for customers to do this, also offers an attractive opportunity to engage luxury consumers to shop with FARFETCH.”
Luxury Promise
First launched in 2016 by Sabrina Sadiq, Luxury Promise is a leading London-based resale platform where people can buy, sell and swap luxury goods. Having seen over 450 per cent growth in sales in the last two years alone, Luxury Promise recently raised approximately $10.9 million from an array of strategic investors and leading figures in the luxury industry including former Jimmy Choo CEO, Pierre Denis, former CEO of De Beers Jewelers and executive at LVMH, Pierre Denis and more. Taking the platform to the next level, Luxury Promise has become one of the first to introduce artificial intelligence into its app.
The Luxury Closet
Founded over a decade ago by Kunal Kapoor, The Luxury Closet, based in Dubai, is one of the leading luxury resale platforms not only in the Middle East, but worldwide. With premium brands including Cartier, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Rolex, Van Cleef and Arpels and more, there are over 40,000 unique items to choose from on The Luxury Closet’s platform. The changing shopping mentality towards seeking unique vintage pieces and pre-loved items has been spearheaded by the millennial generation, Kunal previously told Emirates Woman. “Consumers’ luxury shopping habits are changing; they’re taking into consideration what ownership really stands for and its definition, along with the impact it has on the environment too,” he said.
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Images: Supplied, Courtesy of FARFETCH
