The online platform makes luxury accessible to as many people as possible by offering second-hand clothing, bags, shoes and accessories from major brands. An ethical and sustainable alternative to buying new clothes, the start-up bought out its main competitor in the United States this summer. After having raised 356 million euros and seduced the luxury giant Kering.

Like gastronomy, luxury is a French affair.

It is enough to consult the valuation of CAC 40 companies to be convinced of the singular place of this sector in our economy.

On the podium, no internet champion, oil group, insurer or car manufacturer like our neighbors, but two luxury icons, LVMH and Hermès, and the world leader in cosmetics, L’Oréal, boosted by the success of its Luxury division.

Moreover, two thirds of Chinese consumers surveyed by Ifop agree that our country is the one that best embodies luxury in the world (study carried out by the Ifop institute in partnership with the Colbert Committee in January 2021).

So when Sébastien Fabre, Fanny Moizant, Sophie Hersan, Alexandre Cognard, Christian Jorge and Henrique Fernandes decided to launch an online consignment store in 2009, there was no question of offering „fast fashion” items or discount clothes.

Vestiaires de Copines, which will become Vestiaire Collective three years later, concentrates on designer pieces, which do not go out of style and retain a high value on the second-hand market.Handpicked and authenticated products

For entrepreneurs, the biggest challenge is, first, to reassure customers of the authenticity of items worth