On March 2, Vestiaire Collective, Europe's biggest platform for high-end second-hand clothes and handbags declared its new unicorn status and the completion of a new €178 million financing round. This has been done with the help of US investment firm Tiger Global Management and global French luxury group Kering.

In the investment, the existing shareholders also re-invested which includes including Vestiaire Collective’s CEO, Bpifrance (Large Venture), Max Bittner, the Eurazeo Group (Eurazeo Growth and Idinvest Venture), Condé Nast, certain funds managed by Fidelity International, Korelya Capital (backed by NAVER), Vitruvian Partners, and Luxury Tech Fund (LTF & Cuir Invest).

As per Vestiaire, the amount of secondhand pieces in people’s closets is estimated to grow from 21% in 2021 to 27% in 2023 with the value of the secondhand sector estimated to be worth over $60 billion by 2025.

On the funding round, Maximilian Bittner, Vestiaire Collective’s CEO said that the incredible trajectory of Vestiaire Collective which was founded in the 2008 crisis is confirmed by the latest round of investment. The ability of the model to continue to thrive during challenging conditions is clearly demonstrated through this. Amongst Millennial and Gen Z consumers, the resale sector as a whole is experiencing rapid growth who will shape the retail landscape of the future. They felt incredibly excited while welcoming Kering and Tiger Global Management, who will help them in their mission of building a sustainable fashion industry and further growing their incredible global community.

To drive innovation for building a more sustainable fashion industry for the future, lead investor Kering and Vestiaire Collective share a joint vision in their commitment. Chairman and CEO of Kering, François-Henri Pinault said that the real and deeply rooted trend among younger customers is a pre-owned luxury. To enhance the values which they offer to their customers and influence the future of their industry to adopt more innovative and more sustainable practices, they want to seize this opportunity. This aligns with their pioneering sustainability strategy, entrepreneurial spirit, and modern vision of luxury.

Partner of lead investor Tiger Global, Griffin Schroeder said that to support Vestiaire Collective’s continued global expansion plans which aim in seizing the momentum of already spectacular growth in the Asia Pacific and the US, they are very excited. In those regions, by January 2021, the sales of local sellers have increased by more than 250%.

This financing round will be used by Vestiaire Collective to accelerate their circularity vision, scale up the technology and data innovation roadmap, and initiate strategic change in the fashion industry. A sustainability roadmap based on 4 main innovative pillars will support this which are: empowering and growing its community of ‘fashion activists’; being an exemplary B Corp certified business; triggering a change in luxury fashion and lowering environmental footprint and becoming carbon neutral by 2026.