SPHERE Curates: The World's Best Fashion Resale

It’s a sign, if another was needed, that fashion resale is booming. A recent study released by resale platform, thredUp, projected the total second-hand market will grow to £57 billion by 2029, reaching nearly twice the size of the fast fashion segment in the same period. 

Of course, the desire to take inventory of - and release money from - our unworn clothes set in during the pandemic, setting an accelerated pace for fashion resale that hasn’t let up since as people realise its benefits as a sustainable lifestyle practice.

Gen Z has been on the resale tip for years, with many under 25s making their pocket money buying and selling pre-loved clothing, and nearly box fresh sneakers on eBay, Depop and Grailed. Those of us harbouring expensive designer items from brands such as Alexander McQueen, or Balenciaga can even re-sell them back to the brands through special schemes. 

If you want to sell the unworn clothes taking up space in your home, or invest in pre-loved garments, what are the resale platforms to know now? SPHERE takes a highly curated look at this growing fashion phenomenon.

With an online fashion community of more than 23 million customers, what makes Vestiaire different is its rigorous authentication process. While it is a user-to-user business, pieces you buy on Vestiaire Collective are also guaranteed due to the verification processes ths business uses to check clothing offered is the real deal. 

The site is full of useful features such as the ability to set email alerts, letting you know when a particular item you are hunting for is listed. The site also recently added a scheme in partnership with Alexander McQueen. The program, called “Brand Approved,” works by McQueen boutiques contacting their best clients and offering a store credit in return for garments, accessories, and shoes from previous collections. 

Once the garments are received at McQueen stores, they will be inspected and authenticated, and then placed for sale on the Vestiaire site and app with denotation that the pieces are McQueen-approved. Vestiaire also work with Mulberry in this way.

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A favourite with us at SPHERE, Shona McLeod’s online space, and her brick and mortar store in London SW17, is probably the easiest way to trade in your unwanted quality clothes, make a tidy profit, and barely lift a finger in the process. The business has been going since 2002, long before resale and sustainability became popular, and due to this, her systems for working with clients are extremely smooth and simple.   

If you’re buying, the site’s New In pages are worth a regular check in for pristine pieces, many appearing still have their price tags, from Moncler to Balenciaga. If you’re selling, it’s worth checking the site, to ensure your clothes fit with the store’s aesthetic for good quality pre-loved clothes from mid-to-high level designer labels such as Alaia and Mackintosh. 

If you are fairly local to the store you can drop into the shop or send your items via taxi or courier. Shona Mac can organise a courier for you - and if you have over 30 saleable items they will pay the courier cost. Shona and her team verify the pieces and Shona Mac take 40% of the sale price.

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This just launched site is a global digital-first auction house and content platform founded by Pharrell Williams. The ultimate idea behind it is to build a new space for today’s collectors, curators, and creators to buy and sell what Williams calls ‘modern cultural artefacts’. The site’s first sale, ‘Son of a Pharoah’ focuses on William’s unique cast-offs, most of which have had some creative input from him, such as his Stan Smith Adidas sneakers embossed with 1600 Swarovski crystals, his 18 carat gold Blackberry, and personalised trunks from Goyard and Louis Vuitton.  

As the business grows, Joopiter plans to amplify the provenance of the objects through original editorial and archival imagery, and by bespoke video content that takes viewers deep into the world of auctioned objects and the stories that bind them together.

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From auctions dedicated to haute couture, Hermes handbags, and fashion photography to collaborations with stylists, designers and editors, Sotheby's provides a wide overview of iconic designs by couturiers who have left their mark on the history of fashion. Often, these vintage fashion collections have been hidden from the public eye for decades. Global collectors of vintage designer clothing look for fine craftsmanship that embodies an artist or period, characterised by exquisite materials, sophisticated detail and vibrant colours.

The site also features a buy-it-now fashion section, featuring the most desired resale items in the world now, from rare Hermes Birkin and Louis Vuitton handbags, to watches from Rolex and Patek Phillipe. 

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Hardly Ever Worn It is a lot like eBay, but exclusively for new or barely worn pre-owned designer goods, making this a good option if you like your pre-loved more box fresh in its look and feel. It’s a clever gap in the market to occupy; most of us have clothes we have hardly ever worn even if we don’t like to admit it. Shoppers can watch items, follow sellers and choose to either "buy it now" or make offers. 

Sellers are able to list items without fees, but pay 18% plus VAT for all sales.  Alternatively they can opt for the VIP service, whereby HEWI London will handle everything - from collecting items to handling buyer inquiries, which incurs a higher commission rate, albeit on a sliding scale depending on the amount of items sold. This allows you to sell anonymously; all you need to do is choose how you want to be paid.

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As well as being able to sell items to Selfridges, in return for a store credit, you can also shop from its permanent resale platform, which is part of its ambitious sustainability initiative, Project Earth, which offers products which use environmentally preferred materials and processes. 

Here, you can either choose from a curated edit of pre-loved designer pieces, be it a chic Gabriela Hearst dress or a vintage ceramic vase from the Sixties. If you’re looking for a new way to engage with Selfridges, while updating your clothing, and decluttering your closets, this is it, and it SPHERE thinks it may well be the future of retail. 

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Founded by respected fashion stylist Clare Richardson, a contributor to British and Italian Vogue and advisor to Hermes and Calvin Klein, Reluxe has a taste level and design aesthetic that gives it a thoughtful, more curated edge over other resale sites. 

Richardson works with quality high-end designer clothing only, from Celine and Prada to Balenciaga, and also partners with businesses such as Frame denim, Bella Freud and Preen to sell their previous collections, rather than see them burnt or sent to landfill. This approach ensures the site feels more Net-a-Porter, than eBay.

Reluxe’s mission in business is clear: it wants people to extend the life of their clothes by educating them to the impact their clothes production has on the planet's resources. The global fashion industry generates 10% of the world’s climate-altering emissions, while 80 billion new items of clothing are created every year. Extending the life of clothes by just nine months reduces its carbon, water and waste footprint by 20-30%. If you’re looking to sell high quality designer pieces, Reluxe offers competitive commissions - the more you sell, the lower the commission. 

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1st Dibs is a one-of-a-kind online marketplace that connects shoppers to extraordinary pieces, from fashion and furniture to fine art and  jewellery. It only features items from trusted sellers, who have each been verified by their in-house experts. Shoppers can bid or negotiate a price on items at auction, as they are connected straight to the seller. It’s worth keeping a watchful eye on its site and sale, as thousands of new items are added every week.

They hold a weekly fashion sale every Saturday, and the quality and provenance of the pieces, from 1940s dresses, to early Christian Dior, are evident in the detailed listings.

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Founded by entrepreneur Victoria Prew in 2018 as a fashion rental site, HURR was one of the first businesses to recognise that many of us buy clothing to wear for one occasion, leaving the item to languish unworn in wardrobes following its single use. 

HURR’s model, which has been dubbed “the Airbnb of fashion,’ allows the owners of such items to rent them directly to consumers for between four and 20 days, earning money from their pieces with prices set according to their retail value. 

As well as being the first rental business to operate from Selfridges, and to to gain B Corp status for its creds as an ethical business, HURR also added a resale function in 2022, meaning customers who fall in love with an item, can send a seller an offer to buy an item, who will then have 48 hours to accept or decline it.

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