Fashion stylists promote preloved luxury for Vestiaire Collective
By ZACH JAMES
Luxury resale platform Vestiaire Collective is looking to the stars for its latest campaign.
Joining forces with celebrity stylists Erin Walsh, Marilyn Fitoussi, Georgia Medley, Margherita Maccapani Missoni and Mickael Carpin, the marketplace is delivering digital creative wherein curated fall fashion content and new site features steal the show. The exclusive collaborative effort seeks to position Vestiaire Collective as a trusted destination for the personal and professional pursuit of preloved pieces, as demand for circular shopping options pervades.
“This is a very solid marketing strategy for a designer resale site like Vestiaire Collective to help add overall value and subject matter expertise to their brand platform,” said Daymon Bruck, chief creative officer at The O Group, New York.
“Being that they don’t have original offerings or products to assist in building brand awareness, creating content like their ‘Stylist Collective’ campaign helps to add additional credibility, inspiration and relevancy for their target audience.”
Mr. Bruck is not affiliated with Vestiaire Collective, but agreed to comment as an industry expert.
Curated combinations
Dubbed “The Stylist Collective,” the overarching campaign hails from a partnership with creative agency AKQA.
Input from broadcast fashion journalist Loic Prigent (see story) and industry insider Natacha Morice, who hosts Vestiaire Collective’s new video series, works to enhance the endeavor.
Reaching viewers over the course of the next five weeks, the contracted global talents each star in their own three-minute slot, serving up style inspiration and expertise by way of the endeavor.
For the first episode of “The Stylist Collective,” the resale platform enlists Ms. Walsh, who chats through her favorite pieces, and tips and tricks for dressing this fall.
“Circularity is one of our biggest obligations and Vestiaire Collective is pioneering sustainability in the luxury industry,” said Ms. Walsh, in a statement.
“I’m really passionate about shopping pre-loved when styling too, so I’m excited to share my best kept secret — Vestiaire Collective — with the world.”
Ms. Walsh, known for her work with Hollywood elites such as Sarah Jessica Parker, Anne Hathaway, Eva Mendes, Kerry Washington and Selena Gomez, opts for an approach that “weaves trends and traditions.”
Helping drive audiences to the site is the American stylist’s now-live selections.
An assortment of designer outerwear, footwear and lots of knits are available to those interested in browsing the brand’s site, allowing consumers to shop the edit.
Ms. Fitoussi is up next.
The French costume designer often operates across film and television, involved with productions such as Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, and Netflix’s Emily in Paris series, the latter earning her a Primetime Emmy nomination.
“I can’t start to think about a project without thinking about vintage and pre-loved pieces,” said Ms. Fitoussi, in a statement.
“They are the DNA of my personal and professional style; that’s why I love Vestiaire Collective,” she said. “I found 70 percent of looks on Vestiaire Collective when I was designing the first season of Emily in Paris.”
Resale boom
Throughout this summer, luxury resale has been bolstered substantially through new digital and in-store avenues.
In June 2023, Vestiaire Collective reported that its service prevented 82 percent of consumers from buying fashion pieces firsthand in 2022, up double digits from the year prior (see story).
The surge suggests that secondhand luxury selling remains a particularly profitable market.
“The boom of designer resale sites over the last few years has attracted a growing audience of aspirational luxury consumers who want all the convenience of shopping online while gaining a layer of credibility from an expert source of verified and curated pre-loved products,” said Mr. Bruck.
“This aspirational luxury consumer tends to be younger — very much a Gen Z audience — [and] will likely be influenced by the additional benefits of shopping pre-owned such as sustainability and supporting a circular economy,” he said. “It also helps when a brand like Vestiaire Collective brings attention to these issues by creating its own Impact Report and becoming the first fashion resale site to ban ultra-fast fashion items.”
Leading online retail platform eBay is the latest entity to upgrade its pre-owned luxury offerings, rolling out a new consignment service that certifies handbags from Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermés, Prada and Saint Laurent, among 29 other labels.
By 2024, the program will expand to include jewelry and watches (see story). The team recently announced that streetwear listings are covered under its “Authenticity Guarantee” (see story).
In July 2023, British department store Selfridges launched a circular fashion exchange that facilitated the peer-to-peer sale of pre-worn wear (see story).
Alongside “Stylist Collective” ads, Vestiaire Collective is introducing its own upgrades, unveiling a “Stylist Pick” badge to help identify items chosen by Ms. Walsh, Ms. Fitoussi, Ms. Medley, Ms. Missoni, Mr. Carpin and others.
The campaign comes at an incredibly opportune time, as nearly 90 percent of luxury consumers are planning on upping their spending within the segment in 2024 (see story).
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