The New Vintage

At a time when buying a Birkin is considered a surer bet than buying gold, it’s no surprise to learn re-commerce is the next big designer fashion thing. Clare Press reveals the tricks of the trade

There’s some impressive arm candy on this table. You’d never know it wasn’t brand new. A quilted Saint Laurent clutch, a glossy crocodile Birkin, a Loewe puzzle bag that looks like it has never been touched by human hand – and indeed it won’t be anytime soon (the woman inspecting it is wearing protective white gloves).

We are in a discreet office building in the Paris suburbs. Six chic women are peering at handbags and shoes with magnifying glasses. They work for Vestiaire Collective, the French ‘re-commerce’ site where some 30,000 designer label items are offered for sale each week through its six million-strong fashion community.

The Vestiaire model is consumer-to-consumer, which means members sell to each other. Imagine a cross between Net-A-Porter and eBay with a bit of Instagram thrown in. You can follow and like your favourite sellers. But instead of members just whacking up any old thing with no checks and balances, Vestiaire steps in to advise on market value, to ensure things like the photos are inviting and, most importantly, to check for authenticity.

According to racked.com, sites such as Amazon, Alibaba and eBay are “riddled with counterfeits” while a 2016 study by the US Chamber of Commerce suggested that as much as 12.5 percent of China’s exports could be incounterfeit goods. This is why sites such as Vestiaire work so hard to create trust.