Vestiaire Collective, resale to reach 80 billion euros

«We want to change fashion consumption by pushing circularity with our sustainable business model». Word of Maximilian Bittner, ceo of Vestiaire collective, a resale fashion reality founded in 2009 which, after the acquisition of the American Tradesy (see MFF of March 16, 2022), is now the leader of a market worth 40 billion euros, which should double in less than three years. With around 800 employees, today the Group has a marketplace with a community of 23 million members and a catalogue of 5 million fashion products. The second-hand revolution promises to be as disruptive as it was for e-commerce, with an evolving modality in which Vestiaire Collective investors such as Kering —who last year participated in one of 2 funding rounds of 178 million euros each— strongly believe.

Are we facing a re-commerce revolution? Is it comparable to the e-commerce disruption of 20 years ago?
Analyses estimate the luxury market is worth 300 billion euros. If we look at fashion, the figure is 10 times bigger: 3 trillion euros. To date, resale is already worth 40 billion euros. We expect it to double in size to 80 billion euros by 2025. We are penetrating all important markets and expect to play a role in transforming the luxury market in a sustainable way.

After the acquisition of Tradesy in the US, what is your international market share?
After the acquisition in the US, by consolidating Tradesy our gross merchandise value (GMV) amounts to about 1 billion euros. Outside of Europe, with this acquisition, we are gradually approaching 50%. In Europe, our presence is widespread. There is also an initiative underway to accelerate expansion into Korea and Japan, and we are also thinking about China.

Who are your competitors? The RealReal published a report in which it predicts revenues of 1 billion euros in 2025. What about you?Vestiaire Collective is the biggest online resale platform if we talk about global operations. The RealReal only operates in the US. The other resale platforms are not competitors for us, but rather partners for a change in consumption. Our big competitor is fast fashion. We want to transform the way people consume fashion and we want to empower more people to consume high quality fashion products.

How do you want to change the fashion industry?
We feel like revolutionaries because with a simple app we are making high-quality goods available at very affordable prices to a wider range of people. We are looking at the younger generation, who in the past did not usually have access to brands like Gucci or Prada. We are actually giving products a second life.

From Alexander McQueen to Mytheresa. Is the fashion industry looking to you to change its business model?
Brands and retailers are monitoring the evolution of retail. With many of them we have open discussions in the most varied forms. For example, as for Mytheresa customers can sell their used goods to us and get vouchers in return. The impact can become important.

Do you think your revolution will be as disruptive as e-commerce?
Ours is a sustainable business model. 10 years ago, no one was thinking about used goods and luxury fashion, now millions of consumers are entering this market. One of our strengths is our authenticity verification process. While we had 11 million members in 80 countries before the Tradesy acquisition, we now have 23 million members with 5 million products put back into circulation. I think I can affirm that these figures speak for themselves.

Are the war and pandemic affecting this market? McKinsey estimates expected the fashion resale to reach 70 billion euros by 2025.
The fashion resale market is already at 40 billion trades for this year and by 2025 we should reach 80. In the fall of 2020, while talking to your newspaper, we had observed that consumers are shifting towards sustainability. People are increasingly looking at their closet as an additional source of income (see MFF of October 14, 2020).

You have concluded two very important funding rounds worth almost 400 million euros. Are you working on more?
Last year we concluded two major fundraising rounds amounting to 178 million euros each (see MFF of September 9, 2021), therefore we are well funded and with high quality shareholders. Last year we raised investments from partners such as Kering, in terms of luxury fashion, Tiger, in terms of technology, Japan's SoftBank and Generation, a leader in circular sustainability. We are very focused on business. As for fundraising, we have 3 main goals: to continue to invest in our technology, to play the role of opinion leader to change the way people think about fashion and, finally, international expansion.

Are you considering listing on the stock exchange? You would be the first one in your field.
That could happen in the future, but right now we are well funded and very focused on our business. (All rights reserved)