Iconic department store Bloomingdale’s unveils multifaceted partnership with luxury resale platform, Rebag. Bloomingdale’s and Rebag share a joint vision in their commitment towards driving innovation to build a more sustainable, robust fashion industry.

Image Source: bloomingdales.com

Envisioned to promote sustainability and circularity while making luxury goods accessible to a wide demographic, Rebag x Bloomingdale’s collection launched at Bloomingdales.com on August 8, 2024, to be followed shortly with Rebag kiosks in select Bloomingdale’s stores including The Mall at Short Hills, White Plains in New York, Town Center at Boca Raton, Westfield Fashion Square in Sherman Oaks and Fashion Valley Mall in San Diego. Each kiosk will feature a curated selection of pre-owned luxury items. 

“This partnership epitomizes our vision of the complementary relationship between first-hand and second-hand luxury,” says Charles Gorra, CEO and Founder of Rebag. “By bringing Rebag’s expertise in sourcing and vetting luxury goods to Bloomingdale’s discerning clientele, we are setting a new standard in the luxury retail experience.”

Since 1872, New York-based multi-brand luxury retailer Bloomingdale’s retails high-end ready-to-wear, accessories, beauty and home. A division of Macy’s Inc, the retailer has thirty-three stores and nineteen outlets across the country, an outpost in Dubai, and bloomingdales.com. 

With comparable sales up 0.8 percent on an owned basis in the first fiscal quarter, Bloomingdale’s new strategic retail and digital partnership with Rebag underlines the retailer’s commitment to the circular economy. The luxury fashion resale market is a supply constrained business and Bloomingdale’s nationwide reach gives it a leg up in America’s luxury market. 

Rebag Enhances Resale Market with AI-Powered Circular Economy Model

Launched in 2014, Rebag’s mission is to extend the lifecycle of products through resale and supporting a disruptive move towards a circular economy. With its combined pillars of fashion and sustainability and the high level of trust it has built on the platform, Rebag is uniquely positioned to capture an increasing share of the resale market.

Though the rarity, desirability and demand for a certain item plays the biggest role in determining resale value, Rebag leverages its proprietary AI tool, CLAIR, which uses millions of data points to offer quotes and payouts on premises. 

Users simply need to scan a handbag using the Rebag app on their smartphones; the luxury appraisal index generates the item’s current value so users can make an educated decision to sell it, hold onto it, or buy more of the same.

Resale democratises luxury fashion, encourages circularity 

Over the last decade, the accelerated demand for sustainable fashion and affordable luxury has given rise to a number of luxury resale platforms. Widespread store closures during the pandemic affected both the availability and affordability of luxury goods. As a result, platforms specialising in pre-loved luxury goods are becoming increasingly attractive. These platforms often provide competitive prices and access to items that are no longer available or, if available, unaffordable.

Per Bain, ‘The second hand luxury goods market rose to €45 billion in 2023. Sales growth eased 4 percent to 6 percent, in line with the 4 per cent gain posted by luxury goods—a confirmation of the normalisation of “preloved” items already observed last year… Secondhand increasingly acts as a market gateway for younger generations, as well as for aspirational consumers who want to continue participating in the luxury ecosystem, despite brands’ continued price elevation and general macroeconomic challenges.’

Luxury brands are eyeing the resale market. Gucci, for example, is collaborating with TheRealReal to recycle and up-cycle garments, reflecting a commitment to circular fashion. Swiss luxury goods group Richemont acquired the pre-owned premium watch specialist, Watchfinder. Vestiaire Collective, a global platform for second-hand fashion, announced a financing round backed by French luxury group Kering and US investment firm Tiger Global Management.

François-Henri Pinault, Chairman and CEO of Kering, said in a company release: “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.”

This shift showcases a growing trend among luxury fashion brands to integrate resale into their business models. By selling pre-loved products, their life cycle is extended, subsequently creating further value. This circular economy would eliminate the linear economic model in the fashion industry, which is based on a take-make-waste pattern. Per McKinsey, the sizable resale luxury market is surging. ‘…industry watchers predict an annual growth rate of 10–15 percent over the next decade… In the watch market, for example, by 2025 we expect that resale will comprise a full third of the total market. These patterns have been accelerated by the pandemic, by digitisation, and by the so-called “generational headwind”.’

The pre-loved market essentially democratises luxury fashion when we begin perceiving iconic pieces of jewellery or watches through new lens. Once an expensive, beloved handbag or fine jewellery has reached the end of its lifespan in our wardrobe, it can be the stepping stone to luxury fashion in another person’s life… after all, it’s a great way to practice sustainable fashion and circularity, and for many, afford designer-wear.