The case for preloved luxury fashion in India
Does a market exist for preloved traditional Indian luxury fashion? Aashni Shah, the founder of Revivify, a resale platform for preloved South Asian designer wear weighs in for BeejLiving
“Sustainable fashion brands play a necessary role in shaping how the fashion industry can improve its practices and reduce environmental harm. Ushering in an era of mindful consumption and destigmatising pre-loved shopping, I launched Revivify to lead the conversation on designer resale in order to evolve the space into a more consolidated ecosystem.
Post pandemic, the stigma attached to luxury resale is fading out with shoppers showing an evolved allegiance to responsible shopping and affordability.
A newfound appreciation of vintage design and a keen desire to create a more personal and nuanced look beyond mass-produced fast fashion is also accelerating the pre-loved trend. Moreover, there is a new glam factor to it! Celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Livia Firth even take pride in opting for vintage pieces on the red carpet.
Reducing fashion waste
By giving your pieces a new home, revamping them or restoring them to their former glory, you can help to reduce harmful waste and lessen your carbon footprint. By prolonging the life of your wardrobe by only nine months can reduce its waste, water and carbon footprint by up to 30 per cent. With more clothing being manufactured than ever before, it is no surprise that the fashion industry is to blame for over 40 million tonnes of textile waste every year. Only a minuscule fraction of this is recycled or upcycled into new items. This is why doing our bit is more important than ever.
In 2021 alone, the pre-loved luxury market was estimated to be worth $37.2 billion according to the consulting firm Bain & Company.
This marks a 65 per cent increase from 2017. The pre-loved market grows by leaps and bounds globally. We are championing the concept within the sphere of South Asian bridal, festive and occasion wear as a way to promote better, more conscious buying decisions, and destigmatize second hand clothing.
Destigmitasing preloved fashion
Over the years, I have practiced restyling, rewearing and recontextualising my own closet. For the serial luxury entrepreneur, pre-loved has never been a trend, but a way of life. As the preloved industry grows by leaps and bounds globally, we will focus on the space in the South Asian luxury sector. With premium luxury brands and outlets like Gucci, Net-a-Porter, and Selfridges embracing preloved, it serves as a nod of approval for those seeking or thinking about entering this space.
Curation and authentication lie at the heart of what we do. We are actively on a lookout to list pieces which are in demand and on trend as opposed to simply listing pieces that come our way. We have a brand directory and only accept pieces from designers within the brand directory. Such as Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla, Anamika Khanna, Anita Dongre, Ritu Kumar, Sabyasachi, Simar Dugal, Tarun Tahiliani and Torani among others. Vintage and out of production trending items is another part of our curation which makes us different from other pre-loved platforms.
Building trust
Selling is super simple for preloved luxury fashion. You need to create a seller account to access their dashboard and submit their item details including attaching some images of the item. including the brand label (from their phone). Our expert team will revert within 24 hours with a valuation and collect your item for free to ship it to our studio where we conduct a physical authentication and professionally shoot the item before listing it on the website.
The team undertakes a 2-step authentication upon themselves which includes a physical authentication. With decades of experience under their belt, they examine the condition, stitching, current valuation and age of the item and value the item. Our authentication team has decades of experience enabling our buyers to shop at ease without worrying about counterfeit pieces.
We do not link our sellers to sell directly to the buyers, however our unique dashboard allows sellers to have 24/7 access to track their item’s journey. The seller is updated at every step of their journey and as soon as their item is sold, our automated payment system enables the seller to receive their payment immediately.
The item is professionally dry cleaned before shipping it to the seller. The buyer has peace of mind as the physical item stays safely with us from the time of listing until a purchase is made.
Essentially, we are a platform for buyers and sellers. In fact, you may just chance upon an absolutely beautiful archival Sabyasachi ensemble from his collection dated 15 years ago or a 20-year-old Ritu Kumar or a vintage timeless Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla creation, which still trends today.
