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Balenciaga is making further forays into the resale market. After the successful pilot, Kering’s brands officially established a partnership with Reflaunt, a white-label resale platform, with Balenciaga CEO Cédric Charbit as an investor.
Partnership allows customers to sell their used Balenciaga apparel and accessories in exchange for store credit. Customers can drop off at designated stores and have their items sent to Reflaunt for authentication, professional photography and pricing. These works are then listed on Reflaunt’s global network, which includes over secondary markets such as Tradesy, Vestiaire Collective and Hamburg-based resale platform Rebelle.
Luxury brands are diving directly into the resale market to take more ownership over second-hand sales. In June, Italian fashion house Valentino announced it would start selling vintage items collected from customers in exchange for store credit. Gucci’s Gucci Vault concept also recreates vintage home pieces. Other brands work directly with resale platforms like The RealReal and Vestiaire Collective.
Balenciaga says its upcoming launch with Reflaunt is an update to becoming a “fully sustainable company” Part of a broader mission to “encourage the practice of reducing, reusing and recycling”.
Reflaunt’s technology has been adopted by brands and retailers including Net-a-Porter, Ganni and Axel Arigato. Charbit invested in the service in a seed round with Swarovski creative director Giovanna Battaglia. It raised 25 another $1 million in a Series A round in August 25. It is part of the LVMH accelerator program La Maison des Startups, which aims to bring new services and innovative products to the luxury market.
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