Mytheresa promotes sustainable fashion by entering the second-hand market

As investors pour more and more money into resale platforms and the circular economy, bigger-name brands and retailers are starting to take notice.

Munich-based retailer Mytheresa is the latest company to join the resale wave by partnering with luxury consignment platform Vestiaire Collective to launch a new resale service starting June 9.

The initial phase is reserved for Mytheresa’s top customers, who will be invited to sell their favorite luxury handbags online in exchange for Mytheresa store points. To enhance the experience and make it frictionless, the two companies have set up a dedicated team to provide personal assistance to customers.

They also speed up the payment process with instant quotes. For luxury shoppers, this is more attractive than uploading an item on their own without the guarantee of a sale. As soon as their item is shipped to Vestiaire’s facility and verified by its team, customers receive their store credit — even before it’s sold.

As resale services rise and competition intensifies, fast payments are quickly becoming a bigger part of the equation. Earlier this month, London-based startup Twig launched a new service that lets customers receive a quote and cash it out even before shipping.

Mytheresa's service started small, with Vestiaire selecting second-hand bags from a list of 20 luxury designers that are the retailer's European customers. The service is available to the site's customers, but the bags are not necessarily purchased from Mytheresa.

The goal is to start rolling out the service to a wider customer base, more brands and new categories, including ready-to-wear, by the end of the year. This is the first time a major online wholesaler has joined the resale movement and tried out this business model.

In the past, Selfridges has launched in-store pop-ups with Vestiaire Collective, allowing customers to shop second-hand in-store and have their favourites delivered to the store, while Farfetch offers a Second Life resale service for handbags, which it then sells on its own marketplace.

Mytheresa’s chief executive, Michael Kliger, said he saw “huge potential” in embedding circularity into the company’s business model and expanding it to new markets and categories in the coming months.

Mytheresa joins brands including McQueen and Mulberry that have launched similar services with Vestiaire Collective, which received a $216 million investment from Kering and Tiger Global in early 2021.

The investment set off a wave of M&A activity in the sector. A few months later, resale app Vinted also received a large cash injection, while Depop sold to Etsy for $1.6 billion.

Fanny Moizant, president and co-founder of Vestiaire Collective, said: “We will continue to amplify the voice of resale as a key part of achieving a more sustainable fashion system. We will continue to work and fight alongside brands and retailers to encourage their customers to embrace circular fashion by reselling the clothes they no longer wear.

Mytheresa

Resale Market