Stores of secondhand clothes are no more surprising or embarrassing thanks to a growing group of youth who are constantly emphasizing the importance of fashion recycling, and the rationalization of production and consumption to protect the environment.
From the display methods to scents, these stores have changed and gained a wider audience as many top fashion brands, such as Valentino, have joined the club.
Other international brands including Gucci have been directly involved in the resale trend to redistribute old collections and lure new customers through partnerships with companies specialized in selling secondhand goods like Vestiaire Collective and many other websites, which have remarkably flourished in the past few years.
Back in October, Valentino has launched the first phase of its initiative ‘Valentino Vintage Takeovers’, aimed at recycling fashion with a sophisticated style that meets its customers’ demands on timeless designs.
At the time, the Italian fashion brand called its customers around the world to revive the Valentino items they are not using anymore, by selling them in exchange for store credit to use on new collections. According to the Roman fashion house, buyers partaking in this initiative will not only receive a secondhand item from another collection, but a piece with a special story, and a small document that has all the information about it. The response to Vintage was surprising, which urged Valentino to launch the second phase of its project after receiving enough items that will be displayed in four Vintage store: Madame Pauline Vintage in Milan; The Vintage Dress in Tokyo; New York Vintage; and Resurrection Vintage in Los Angeles.
For the third phase, Valentino plans to gift secondhand pieces to fashion institutes and academies, where the newest designs and lines are born, and where students unleash their creativity knowing that the future is the extension of the past.
