Fanny Moizant is the president & co-founder of Vestiaire Collective. After having her two daughters, Moizant was inspired to start her own company, launching Vestiaire Collective after noticing significant changes in the way people were consuming fashion – buying more and wearing less. Vestiaire Collective provides an opportunity for people to extend the life span of their pre loved items while minimising waste. A global app for pre-loved luxury fashion, Vestiaire Collective is dedicated to transforming the industry by promoting circular fashion as an alternative to overconsumption and the wasteful practices of the fast fashion industry. Moizant relocated to Hong Kong from London in 2017 to spearhead the company’s expansion into Asia Pacific.
My wardrobe revolves around a one in one out policy. Reselling allows me to enter a virtuous sustainable cycle and most importantly, finances my next purchase.
Fanny Moizant
What inspired you to start Vestiaire Collective and what is the concept behind it ?
After having my two daughters, I was inspired to start my own company. I came up with the idea to launch Vestiaire Collective after noticing significant changes in the way that people were consuming fashion: buying more and wearing less. The rise of social media and fast fashion has led us from an era of possession to an era of usage, where consumers are urgently in need of a sustainable solution to cope with this behaviour. This soon led to the creation of Vestiaire Collective, a company dedicated to providing an opportunity for people to extend the lifespan of their pre-loved items, therefore minimising waste in fashion.
What are your top tips for someone who is looking to venture into selling their pre loved clothes and accessories?
The easiest way is to download our app, create an account and just click on the ‘Sell’ button. Our app will guide you through the whole process which is really easy and won’t take you longer than a few minutes. You can take the photos of your items right away with your mobile phone camera. In order to sell successfully, ensure that you take photographs in good light and really go into detail with the descriptions, be upfront about any marks or defects as our teams will notice them at Quality Control and potentially re-negotiate the price. Equally important is finding the right price for your item and stepping into the shoes of a potential buyer and thinking from that perspective – how much is a buyer willing to pay for my item?
With more awareness growing around the climate crisis do you think that has catapulted the way people think and shop?
We launched a report last year called The Smart Side of Fashion which explores recent trends in resale, notably exploring the rise of sustainability and the impact of the current crisis which has challenged society at large to reconsider its values and behaviour. It has influenced us to rethink the way we use our wardrobes and redefine the way we consume fashion.
The impact of the pandemic has further escalated this shift. This era really asks us to look into the smart side of fashion, for instance by buying pre-owned on a platform like Vestiaire Collective. From an environmental perspective, buying pre-loved clothing allows you to enter a circular economy by giving a longer lifetime to your items and extending the lifespan of other people’s pieces. Extending the lifespan of a piece by just 9 months can reduce its annual carbon, water and waste footprint by 20-30%. This means in general you’re taking fewer resources from planet Earth. It also allows you to trade up and access more quality pieces that are made to stand the test of time and will stay in circulation for much longer.
Describe a typical day in the life of Fanny Moizant?
I start my day early as my girls leave for school at 6.40am (one of the benefits of online schooling is that I get to sleep in a little). Depending on the day I will either work from home or go into the office – we allow some of our employees to work from home two days a week as teams globally have asked for more flexible working arrangements. At work, mornings are usually quiet and mainly dedicated to APAC topics or projects that require focus and thinking efforts. At 3pm my other day starts. I have back to back calls with the Parisian teams on various topics. They usually finish quite late in the night. When I manage to carve out an hour for pilates or Thai boxing, I feel as though I am the happiest person on Earth!
What are your favourite brands and describe your typical day to day uniform?
Being both a minimalist and a pragmatist, Celine, Maison Martin Margiela, Veja, and Yves Saint Laurent Vintage are among some of my favourite Brands/designers. I try not to stay overly attached to any seasonal piece. I prefer relaxed silhouettes and natural, light fabrics. My day to day uniform would be a pair of relaxed, wide-leg trousers or jeans, a classic Breton T-shirt, and a pair of sneakers like my Nike X Sacai’s LDV Waffle or Vejas.
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Inside The Hong Kong Home of Vestiaire Collective Co-founder Fanny Moizant
Editor
Olivia BuckinghamCredit
Lead image: courtesy of Vestiaire Collective
