Le Rendez-Vous: Meet Our Professional Sellers

Across the globe, Vestiaire Collective not only connects individual sellers, but also enterprising businesses and specialists, many of whom have been working with us since their inception. Today we meet a few of your favourites, and discover their tips to better selling.

Why should our community shop with you?

We put a lot of time and effort into searching for the pieces we sell, in order to fulfil both the quantity of orders and requests that we receive, but also - crucially - to guarantee the best quality of our items. 

What’s your secret to a perfect listing on Vestiaire Collective?

We always find that the choice of your item and the timing of your listing is fundamental; you should always try to tap into trends. We’re looking for the must-have pieces - not all of fashion lovers aspire to a Birkin! - so we have to use our imagination when hunting for new items. 

Post-Covid, which four fashion figures would you invite for dinner and why?

Giorgio Armani, Anna Dello Russo, Anna Wintour and Victoria Beckham. Armani is one of my idols - he truly made a difference to the world of fashion, and he’s the only person I’ve ever asked for an autograph in my life!

Where do you find the inspiration for your store?

We closely follow emerging trends on social media, and we’re constantly inspired by all the important players in the world of fashion.  

What are your tips for effective working from home? 

For me, it helps to get up much earlier than the rest of the family (5am), so I can organise my day better and concentrate on work while everyone sleeps. A short afternoon nap is definitely allowed, though!

Post-Covid, which four fashion figures would you invite for dinner and why?

As a Spanish person, I would love to have dinner with Amancio Ortega, the founder of Zara. I’d also invite Yael Aflalo (the founder of Reformation), as well as Natalie Massenet and José Neves, the founders of Net-a-Porter and Farfetch, two people I admire who have transformed the consumption of luxury online.

What do you love about selling with us?

The loyalty of the community. My clients know the types of items that they’ll find when shopping with my store, so if they are interested in a Chanel - whether it is a timeless model or a more particular one - they know that I always have new arrivals of what they’re looking for.

What’s your secret to a perfect listing on Vestiaire Collective?

Always use a completely white and smooth background for your photographs, and always keep the buyer in mind at all times - everything we do is for our customers.

What are your top tips for working from home?

It’s not been easy to adapt, but we’ve done our best. For me, it’s been about trying to retain a sense of normality. I’ve set up a functional and tidy workstation, and have organised my schedule as though it was a normal working day. Don't forget to communicate with your colleagues, and to support each other too!

What’s your secret to perfect photography of items for Vestiaire Collective?

Each object requires a different frame or light to stand out. A bright window and a white stool on which to place the item are a great home setup for bags and accessories!

Why should our community shop with you?

We believe that our customers seek a good balance between quality, price and service during the purchase, and we do our best to guarantee all of these points. 

Where do you find the inspiration for your store?

I am inspired a lot by my surroundings; colours, places, seasons, travel, people and moods.

Why should our community shop with you?

I often take items back to the brands’ stores for cleaning and/or repair before selling them on Vestiaire Collective; it’s always great to see how much they respect their craftsmanship and how meticulously they care for items, as well as how well they treat their clients. I always try to transmit this to my customers as much as I can.

What’s your secret to a perfect listing on Vestiaire Collective?

I focus on timeless and long-lasting items that offering only good quality. Keeping my inventory up-to-date is also crucial. I made a stock management system by myself to list and remove items promptly. 

What are your photography tips for our community?

I definitely recommend taking pictures that show an item’s true condition, and not just to take beautiful pictures that do not show scratches or stains. I take pictures from every angle, of every visible part, and zoomed pictures of scratches. I use a torch to take pictures of insides bags too, which helps massively. 

How would you describe Vestiaire Collective in 3 words?

Social, luxury, authentic. If I’m allowed on more, it’d be ‘communication’ - I always try to understand what my customers really want.

How are you dealing with the effects of COVID-19?

As for everyone, it’s been difficult every day. I’m hopeful that recent events will lead us all to rethink our consumption and adopt the right responses to better support our local and national economies, such as "buy less and buy better" and "consume locally". Ultimately maybe we could all benefit from this terrible period.

Where do you find the inspiration for your store?

Street style, art exhibitions, fashion trends and fashionistas, long time wishes, my classic tasteful grandmother, my creative and hands-on mother…

Who is your favourite designer and why?

It’s perhaps an obvious choice, but Yves Saint Laurent is still for me the magical designer who knew how to unite all the colours, all the trends, and all the materials to reach the same goal: to make women even more feminine and beautiful.

Why should our community shop with you?

Larcher is based around 3 key pillars. First, careful selection of pieces according to very selective criteria (rich materials, high fashion and fairly limited production, iconic and representative piece of the brand). Second, we then restore (if necessary) using specialists and sometimes even the original houses themselves. Third, we create a fashion story around each piece, explaining its uniqueness and ensuring its relevance in modern trends and desires.

What are your tips for working from home?

Always get up, get dressed and make your bed, fuel yourself with matcha green tea and write a prioritised to-do list for the day. I also encourage my team to take regular breaks, maintain regular hours and to stay connected. 

Where do you find the inspiration for your store?

The curation of most of our collection is driven by a carefully-constructed purchasing plan but we always have a little room to be reactive to trends. We draw inspiration from Instagram, and we also see how we can repurpose vintage items to fit contemporary trends, especially during show seasons. Most importantly, we listen to our clients - they are our biggest inspiration.

What’s your secret to a perfect listing on Vestiaire Collective?

Honesty and meticulous attention to detail! We make sure all of our listings include a full breakdown of the item’s details and condition notes which have passed our thorough in-house quality control processes. Having a clear set of professionally photographed images will always help more than anything else!

How would you describe Vestiaire Collective in 3 words?

Innovative, forward-thinking, charitable.