Luxury brands are entering the circular model by re-selling and trading archive clothing. Will lower price point brands begin to do the same?
Italian luxury brand Valentino released the second phase of the Valentino Vintage project on June 7, 2022, bringing pre-loved pieces to international secondhand shops. The initiative, led by the brand’s creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli and CEO Jacopo Venturini, allows Valentino to enter the circular fashion industry and increase brand loyalty by exchanging handed-in pieces for vouchers on new collections.
Thus far, we have seen two phases of the project. Since October 2021, the brand has encouraged customers with archive Valentino pieces to hand them into selected secondhand stores in exchange for store credit. As of June 7, these stores are selling said pieces to the public.
Last week, amid the local Design Week, Madame Pauline Vintage in Milan hosted the Valentino Vintage Takeover, where secondhand and vintage items from different decades were on sale. Valentino also took over New York Vintage Inc. in New York City, Resurrection Vintage in Los Angeles, and The Vintage Dress in Tokyo. The partnership with these vintage shops will continue in-store throughout the year.
According to a press release, Valentino teased that phase three of this initiative will bring Valentino Vintage to fashion schools, “where the newest and most original stories are born,” it read.
Spiked interest in secondhand shopping stems from consumers’ desire to shop more sustainably and affordably while securing luxury pieces. The resale and used goods markets are expected to reach $53 billion by 2023 and $77 billion by 2025. Everyone wants in, including luxury labels.
Buying secondhand can be great for both consumers’ wallets and the environment. Not only are secondhand pieces listed at lower prices, but prolonging the life of a garment or accessory piece reduces waste and carbon emissions, prevents it from entering landfills, and saves water, resources, and energy.
However, Valentino is not the first to enter the circular fashion market. Gucci partnered with The RealReal in 2020 to resell its own pre-loved items, and in 2021 Isabel Marant started listing its vintage pieces on its website. Brands like Alexander McQueen, Zalando, and Farfetch have also found a place in the circular fashion industry by teaming up with secondhand online retailers such as Depop, Benetton, and Vestiaire Collective. Valentino Vintage prices range from a few hundred dollars to well into the thousands, with some gowns nearly reaching $10,000.
Although luxury labels adopting a circular approach is both environmentally promising and more affordable, most still find it challenging to afford the luxury price point, even at pre-loved price points. Valentino Vintage’s pricerange, for example, ranges from a few hundred dollars to well into the thousands, with some gowns reaching almost $10,000. Due to our obsession with trends and “only wear it once” mentality, consumers find recent items and low prices appealing, despite the fact that fast fashion is one of the main contributors to environmental distress (the garment industry is one of the largest carbon polluters on Earth with three out of five garments ending up in a landfill.) In an ideal world, lower price point labels and fast fashion companies would also start practicing this circular initiative.
