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LONDON (Reuters) – Second-hand fashion marketplace Vestiaire Collective launched a crowdfunding campaign on Tuesday to raise at least 1 million euros ($1. 09 million) from individual investors, with the Kering-backed company aiming to succeed until the end of the year and potentially go public.
Vestiaire Collective will promote the crowdfunding, which is open to anyone over the age of 18 in Europe and the UK, on its website and mobile app, CEO Maximilian Bittner said.
“The goal is to attract our maximum unwavering consumers to our shareholder base,” Bittner said. “We see this as a marketing effort to link us to our community. “
The crowdfunding is priced at $1. 78 ($1. 94) per share, valuing Vestiaire at $1. 1 billion ($1. 2 billion). This follows a funding round led in November by equity corporation Eurazeo, its largest shareholder with a 25% stake. As of mid-2022, the company was valued at €1. 4 billion.
“It’s a reflection of the existing environment, but I think it’s a fair assessment,” Bittner said. The luxury sector is slowing globally as ambitious, high-end consumers cut back on their spending.
Still, sales grew 25% on the Vestiaire platform last year, a spokesperson said, as people are increasingly buying second-hand clothes and accessories, a trend that has driven top fashion houses and retailers to set up resale sites.
Vestiaire, which earns a fee when customers sell items like Gucci bags or Burberry trench coats through the site, calls itself a marketplace for “desirable” pre-owned fashion. Since November 2022 it has banned more than 60 “fast fashion” brands from being sold on the platform, including Boohoo, Gap, H&M, Shein, Uniqlo, and Zara.
Founded in Paris in 2009, the company aims to succeed through the end of 2024, and an initial public offering “would be the natural next step once we reach profitability,” the spokesperson said in an email.
Gucci owner Kering holds a 5% stake in Vestiaire. Softbank has been an investor since 2021, though the company has not disclosed the size of its stake.
The crowdfunding, through UK-based platform Crowdcube, will open on Tuesday with a subscription phase starting on Feb. 6.
($1 = 0.9189 euros)
(Reporting via Helen Reid; editing by Richard Chang)