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Our MUSIC is by our friend Montaigne, who sang a special acoustic version of "Because I love You" just for us. It's from her album Glorious Heights.

EPISODE 31 FEATURES FANNY MOIZANT, CO-FOUNDER OF VESTIAIRE COLLECTIVE

This week we’re exploring one of our favourite ideas, which is that second hand is not secondbest. Whereas vintage was always cool for those in the know, until fairly recently plain second hand wasn’t always so welcome, but that has changed. 

Instagram is full of stylish people wearing secondhand designer gear. 30% of millennials shopped secondhand in the last three months, while WWD reports that the resale market could eclipse fast fashion within the decade. The new luxury secondhand sites are booming led by US-based The RealReal and French disruptor Vestiaire Collective.

In this podcast we meet one of the founders of Vestiaire Collective, the French ‘re-commerce’ site that’s seeing 30,000 designer label items offered for sale each week by members of its 6 million-strong fashion community. 

This interview is a must for anyone who buys or sells secondhand anywhere. It’s a ‘How to make it in fashion’ episode, a tech disruptor episode, an inspirational woman episode. Fanny is a working mamma and she shares wonderful advice on female entrepreneurship. She few up in the South of France, and studied at Institut Français de la Mode Not surprisingly, she also has fantastic style. Fanny Moizant is super chic.

WHAT WE TALK ABOUT...

Fanny talks about not wasting things being common sense, which strikes us as quite a French idea. 

Just how bad is fashion's waste problem? Australians send in 6000 kg of clothing to landfill every 10 minutes. 

THE AVERAGE WOMAN WEARS LESS THAN 40% OF WHAT'S IN HER WARDROBE

According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, less than 1% of the material used to make clothing is recycled into new clothing, while a truckload of clothing is wasted every second across the world. EVERY SECOND.

The average number of times we wear a garment before getting rid of it has decreased by 36% in 15 years.

According to the 2017 Gumtree Second Hand Report a whopping 86 per cent of Australians prefer buying secondhand over brand new, and while the most commonly sold stuff is homewares and furniture, clothing, shoes and accessories come in second.

RECOMMERCE...

That wasn't even a word until recently. Now, there's an app for that. Says New York magazine, "By following the right sellers on Depop and “liking” the right items on Vestiaire Collective, you can get that cheaper fast-fashion price with the same original designer quality, and a moral pat on the back for recycling." Meanwhile, investment is hotting up, says Business of Fashion.

"recessionistA"

noun1. a person whose clothes, whether cheap, second-hand, or suitably subdued, are considered appropriate to an economic downturn...

VINTAGE DESIGNER FASHION

AZZEDINE ALAIA. Fanny was gifted her vintage Alaïa pieces by her mother. Azzedine Alaïa was a Tunisian-born designer who moved to Paris in 1957, working for several top couture houses before launching his first women’s ready-to-wear collection in 1980. Known for his dramatic, body-accentuating creations, he was a complex visionary who went his own way, eschewing the big bling-y runway shows his peers adopted, and developing an ardent following among fashion insiders. Alaïa passed away in November 2017.

"Azzedine Alaïa was a true visionary, and a remarkable man. He will be deeply missed by all of those who knew and loved him, as well as by the women around the world who wore his clothes," said Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful. "The generosity of his spirit and genius of his designs will never be forgotten." Read the Vogue story here. 

His friend the model Stephanie Seymour described him as "a classicist, possessing a total understanding of the architecture of the female form, of how to drape, and of how to use materials. He doesn’t design for a season, he designs for a body. And he continually reinvents himself, always perfecting and improving on what he has done so brilliantly for a lifetime." Read her lovely 2009 INTERVIEW MAGAZINE piece him here.

This 'reverse hanger trick' thing is really catching on. What's the idea? Every time you wear something, when you put it back into your wardrobe, put it with the hanger facing inside, back to normal. Do that for a 6 months to see what doesn't get worn. End of the challenge? Whatever is still reversed gets the boot.
 Full story on Popsugar.

The book was mention is by Marie Kondo (again!) Read a review here.

"We are in a period of time that's all about less is more, it's about detoxing, clearing space in your head, your wardrobe, your life." fanny moizant

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Until next time,

Clare x