Are genuinfluencers the new influencers for niche and luxury brands?
It used to be that buying clothes secondhand was the domain of vintage lovers or those simply looking for a more affordable price tag. The pursuit required sifting through racks and, for committed thrifters, visiting multiple consignment shops. Today, thanks to digital resellers, buying secondhand has gone mainstream. In fact, by 2023 more than a quarter of the pieces in our closets could be pre-owned. That stat is courtesy of a 2020 study by Boston Consulting Group and Vestiaire Collective, the Paris-based luxury resale platform. Secondhand businesses like Vestiaire Collective and the RealReal are helping to define a new era where secondhand is as good as, if not better than, new, says Maxine Bdat, founder and director of the fashion policy think tank New Standard Institute and author of the new book Unraveled: The Life and Death of a Garment, which examines the environmental impact of shopping.