Vestiaire Collective, a global platform for desirable second-hand fashion, has secured €178 million (approx £154 million) funding at a valuation above $1 billion, making it a unicorn.
Who backed Vestiaire Collective?
The financing round was by French luxury group Kering and US investment firm Tiger Global Management.
Other existing investors including, Vestiaire Collective’s CEO, Max Bittner, Bpifrance’s Large Venture, Condé Nast, the Eurazeo Group (Eurazeo Growth and Idinvest Venture), Fidelity International, Korelya Capital, Luxury Tech Fund, and Vitruvian Partners also participated.
How will the funding be used?
The funding will be used to scale up its technology and data innovation roadmap, accelerate its circularity vision, and initiate strategic change in the fashion industry. The company also aims to be carbon neutral by 2026 and get the B Corp certification.
Transforming fashion industry
Founded in 2009, Vestiaire Collective is dedicated to transform the fashion industry by promoting the circular fashion movement as an alternative to overproduction, overconsumption, and wasteful practices.
Based out of Paris, the platform provides its fashion activist community with tools and features to lead the change as they sell and buy unique pre-loved pieces from each other’s wardrobes.
Aims to capture global resale market
With a global community, strong fashion and sustainability DNA, and the high level of trust it has built on the platform, Vestiaire Collective aims to capture an increasing share of the global resale market, demonstrated by its 90% year-on-year membership growth achieved in 2020.
Maximilian Bittner, Vestiaire Collective’s CEO commented: “This latest round of investment confirms the incredible trajectory of Vestiaire Collective, founded during the 2008 crisis, the model has demonstrated its ability to continue to thrive during challenging conditions. The resale sector as a whole is experiencing rapid growth, especially amongst Millennial and Gen Z consumers, which will come to shape the retail landscape of the future. We are incredibly excited to welcome Kering and Tiger Global Management, both of which will be instrumental in our mission to build a more sustainable fashion industry and further, grow our incredible global community”.
François-Henri Pinault, Chairman, and CEO of Kering said: “Pre-owned luxury is now a real and deeply rooted trend, especially among younger customers. Rather than ignoring it, our wish is to seize this opportunity to enhance the value we offer our customers and influence the future of our industry towards more innovative and more sustainable practices. This fits naturally with our entrepreneurial spirit, our pioneering sustainability strategy, and our modern vision of Luxury.”
Griffin Schroeder, the Partner, Tiger Global, commented: “We are excited to support Vestiaire Collective’s continued global expansion plans, which focus on seizing the momentum of already spectacular growth in the United States and the Asia Pacific. As of January 2021, local sellers in those regions had increased their items sold by more than 250% year-over-year.”
Grégory Boutté, Kering’s Chief Client and Digital Officer, added: “Our innovation strategy aims at investing in brands and technologies for the next generation of consumers, focusing on disruptive business models that allow us to better serve our clients and improve our performance. The investment in Vestiaire Collective makes full sense from both perspectives.”
Vestiaire Collective has offices in Paris, New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, and a tech hub in Berlin.
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