@Vestiaire Collective
The leading global platform for desirable second-hand fashion announces a new €178m (US$ 216m) financing round. Following a strong year that saw the platform’s transaction volume grow over 100% year-on-year, this financing round grants Vestiaire Collective unicorn status and ideally positions it for its next cycle of accelerated growth.
Since its inception in 2009, Vestiaire Collective’s mission has been to extend the lifecycle of products in the fashion
industry, supporting a disruptive move towards a circular economy by empowering a community of ‘fashion activists’
to drive profound change.
The leading global platform for desirable second-hand fashion announced the completion of a new €178 million
financing round, backed by global French luxury group Kering (KER.PA) and US investment firm Tiger Global
Management. Existing shareholders including Vestiaire Collective’s CEO, Max Bittner, Bpifrance (Large Venture),
Condé Nast, the Eurazeo Group (Eurazeo Growth and Idinvest Venture) (RF.PA), certain funds managed by Fidelity
International, Korelya Capital (backed by NAVER) (KRX: 035420), Luxury Tech Fund (LTF & Cuir Invest) and
Vitruvian Partners also reinvest.
The pre-owned fashion sector has experienced rapid growth over the last three years with a further acceleration
during the pandemic. This has been predominantly driven by younger consumers’ increased focus on sustainability
and a growing trend for social shopping and online communities. The amount of secondhand pieces in people’s
closets is predicted to grow from 21% in 2021 to 27% in 2023 with the value of the secondhand sector forecasted
to be worth over $60 billion by 2025.
Vestiaire Collective will use this financing round to scale up its technology and data innovation roadmap.
This latest round of investment confirms the incredible trajectory of Vestiaire Collective, founded during the 2008
crisis, the model has clearly demonstrated its ability to continue to thrive during challenging conditions.
“Pre-owned luxury is now a real and deeply rooted trend, especially among younger customers. Rather than ignoring it, our wish is to seize this opportunity to enhance the value we offer our customers and influence the future of our industry towards more innovative and more sustainable practices. This fits naturally with our entrepreneurial spirit, our pioneering sustainability strategy, and our modern vision of Luxury.” – François-Henri Pinault, Chairman and CEO of Kering.
Tiger Global Management, a U.S.-based technology investor, brings on board deep experience supporting high-
growth disruptive companies to scale, such as Facebook and Spotify. In addition, the firm’s rich understanding of
the U.S. market will support Vestiaire Collective’s ambitions to expand in the region.
“We are excited to support Vestiaire Collective’s continued global expansion plans, which focus on seizing the momentum of already spectacular growth in the United States and Asia Pacific. As of January 2021, local sellers in those regions had increased their items sold by more than 250% year-over-year.” – Griffin Schroeder, Partner, Tiger Global.
Triggering change in luxury fashion: the “Brand Approved” service
The apparel industry’s current way of working needs to evolve; the global fashion industry produced around 2.1 billion tonnes of GHG emissions in 2018. Vestiaire Collective offers a key solution to this challenge, facilitating an increase in reuse and reduction of waste. Vestiaire Collective believes that emphasizing the importance of durability and extending the lifespan of pieces will help combat the negative environmental impact of over-consumption. In answer to this challenge, Vestiaire Collective has launched a ‘Brand Approved’ service, offering an innovative Buy-back circular solution for brands, supporting the decoupling of economic profit from the use of natural resources. The new program recently launched in collaboration with Kering House Alexander McQueen, empowering the brand to integrate circularity into its business model.
@Vestiaire Collective
