France's Vestiaire Collective buys Tradesy to advance circular fashion

By joining forces, Vestiaire Collective and Tradesy significantly increase the size and reach of their peer-to-peer marketplaces, to the direct benefit of their sellers and buyers. The combined company will boast a membership community of 23 million, a catalogue of 5 million items and a Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) exceeding $1 billion. Customers of both Vestiaire Collective and Tradesy will significantly benefit from the companies' alliance. Sellers will see their product reaching a much broader audience, in the US and globally, therefore optimising the overall sale process. Buyers will be presented with an even broader selection of highly desirable pre-loved fashion goods, therefore enhancing their purchase experience, the two companies said in a joint media release.

In recent years, Vestiaire Collective has grown at an accelerated pace in the US, which has become its largest market. Since the beginning of 2022, Vestiaire Collective has been growing its US GMV at a 75 per cent year-on-year rate. To best serve its expanded customer base and continue to position trust at the core of its business model, Vestiaire Collective will open a new authentication centre in the Los Angeles area (its fifth authentication centre globally, and second in the US). With such strategic scale and operational setup, the combined company will be very well-positioned to grow its share of environmentally friendly local-to-local transactions in the US, the media release added.

Both the brands were founded in 2009 by women entrepreneurs committed to transforming the fashion industry towards a more sustainable future.

"This transaction is a key milestone for the luxury fashion resale industry. By joining forces with Tracy and her team, we continue to empower our customers to drive change by making second-hand fashion a first choice. With this transaction, we confirm Vestiaire Collective's ambition to be a truly global player, promoting circularity in Europe, the US and Asia-Pacific," Maximilian Bittner, CEO of Vestiaire Collective, commented. 

"Max and their great team have done a spectacular job positioning Vestiaire Collective as the leading marketplace in our global industry. With today's transaction, we are positioned to significantly improve the experience of US fashion customers. The Tradesy team and I are thrilled to pursue our shared mission together with the incredibly talented team at Vestiaire Collective," Tracy DiNunzio, founder and CEO of Tradesy, said.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (SF)