The Hermès Birkin bag Vestiaire Collective sold this year for an online record of $157,500.
Global luxury resale platform Vestiaire Collective boasts an online community of 23 million and an inventory of 5 million items with a gross merchandise value exceeding $1 billion. Every day 25k items are listed globally on the site.
Today, for the first time since its inception in 2009 Vestiaire Collective is making public its verification processes from each item’s initial listing to those effected at five worldwide authentication centers.
The goal of this Vestiaire Collective Trust Report is to generate increased public confidence via increased transparency, the latter being an important ongoing commitment pertaining to the B-Corportation status it achieved in 2021.
The move is also a response to the platform's exponential growth following its acquisition of U.S. resale marketplace Tradesy in March and the new localized service it launched in May in South Korea. According to a report with Boston Consulting Group, the estimated value of the apparel and accessories resale market has tripled from 2020 reaching some $100 to $120 billion globally — 3% to 5% of the sectors overall.
Although the initial driver is affordability, buyers are becoming increasingly motivated by sustainability concerns — the reason Vestiaire launched in the first place to fight against over-consumption and waste.
WELCOME TO VESTIAIRE COLLECTIVE’S FRENCH AUTHENTICATION CENTER
To support the release of the Trust Report, yesterday, also for the first time in Vestiaire Collective’s 13-year history, the brand invited a select group of editors to its flagship French authentication center to experience at first hand the rigorous human processes each item undergoes to ensure authenticity and quality.
The Tourcoing center in Northern France, housed in a former textile production factory, was established five years ago. The location was chosen due to the region’s historical expertise. Tourcoing was a major hub for the French textile industry until the latter’s delocalization in the 1980s which resulted in high levels of unemployment says Vestiaire Collective co-founder Sophie Hersan. “We knew the savoir-faire, the knowledge was there,” she explained of the choice.
Tourcoing also houses the Vestiaire Collective academy, an elite program where each authenticator employed undergoes three months’ preliminary training. This amounts to some 750 hours per person and is followed up by 180 additional hours annually as new brands come to market necessitating new learnings. The expertise of employees ranges from retail to gemology and watch making.
Members of the Vestiaire Collective authentication team in Tourcoing France with a green Hermès ... [+]
HOW TO TELL A REAL HERMÈS BAG FROM A FAKE. AMONGST OTHER THINGS.
What started out in 2009 with checklists taped to a wall is now a sophisticated process of this human expertise informed by machine learning and algorithms constantly fed with new data. “It will never replace the visual and human knowledge, especially in fashion, but it supports them and helps them to be more efficient,” says Hersan. “We will always need people.”
At Tourcoing, there are now 120 people working in two shifts. They verify around 2000 items per day in the former factory’s vast space that’s flooded with natural light.
In first instance the contents of each package received is checked to ensure it corresponds with the photos posted on the site (checked by a human even before they make their way online). Then the main authentication process is performed employing all the senses. In addition to measurements (23 x 32 x 10.5cm for an Hermès Kelly bag under scrutiny), the grain of the leather is viewed under a microscope and its scent inhaled.
In some cases it’s the sound of a zipper or with certain sneakers the scent of a specific glue used on the soles that provides all important clues. In the case of aforementioned Hermès Kelly, the stitching is checked to insure it was indeed done by hand as opposed to a machine made counterfeit. Hand stitching will always display irregularities.
The Vestiaire Collective authentication center in Tourcoing France.
Each model also displays a serial number and date code in various interior locations including a letter of the alphabet corresponding to the year of production. FYI the Kelly in question bore a ‘y’ denoting the year 2021. Cross references with paperwork and special edition colorways – in this case Frida Blue — and typologies pertaining to particular years and even lining fabrications for special orders also play their part.
“It’s not as simple as one thing,” says Nathanaël Cambier, fashion stylist turned Vestiaire Collective authenticator. “It’s an accumulation of lots of little things that determine whether a bag is genuine.”
Even the paper carrier bags and dust bags provide clues. In some cases the vendor could have purchased packaging online if they lost the original and that might turn out to be a fake although the actual bag they are selling is bonafied.
In the final phase, all the different components are checked off on a digital form — from the item itself to its accoutrements like the embossing on the warranty card, the receipt and original carrier bag if this is included (and yes that does involve the signature camellia flower that comes pinned to Chanel’s black and white paper bag), tired leather is refreshed with restorer, minor pilling removed from knits and garments steamed if that’s considered necessary before being repacked and sent on their way.
A pair of Balenciaga sneakers rejected by the Vestiaire Collective authentication center.
WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU TRY TO PULL A FAST ONE
Should a product prove to be counterfeit — some $360 million worth of items have been rejected by Vestiaire since 2020 which amounts to 8% per day that don’t make the cut — these might be returned to the seller if they prove to be seeking recompense from a prior sale but more often than not they will be destroyed. For the record, detection is 99.9% accurate and an insurance policy covers the remaining 0.1%. The business of counterfeiting amounts to some $412 billion per year.
FUTURE PROOFING LUXURY RESALE
Vestiaire Collective is part of the SMI (Sustainable Market Initiative) Fashion Task Force established by Kind Charles III (When he was still The Prince of Wales) with which, alongside other brands, the platform is also exploring a blockchain based Digital ID system both to fight counterfeiting and to inform customers about the lifecycle of their garments. Additionally, working with The World Economic Forum, it has partnered with fellow organizations to develop a pilot aimed at enhancing customer experience via data exchange and digital authentication.
Hersan and her team have recently returned from South Korea where there’s a huge potential for growth she says. “They love fashion and care about sustainability. They buy second hand and know the value of everything. But they don’t sell so much. So the idea is to make the supply and demand more equal in the region which is also more sustainable.”
The goal of the trip was to connect with the community, to meet with KOLS to explain the brand pillars and build that all important trust, she says. Going forward, the plan is for physical pop-ups and store partnerships because the South Korean market is currently more physically orientated than it is digital. “We needed to meet our community because Vestiaire Collective is a community and our community are our best ambassadors,” she concludes. “We initiated a movement to encourage circularity and to drive change and now it’s our community that is doing the job.”
The Vestiaire Collective Trust Report is available here in full.
A gemologist at work at Vestiaire Collective's authentication center.
