Had enough of scrolling the tens of thousands of Vinted hits, in search for a new (old) treasure?
Last month, a new luxury second hand platform launched which is not your average resale site. Called Francine and run by Amy Bannerman, who currently works as eBay’s pre-loved style director, it’s a much more curated approach. The number of items on sale are small: 10 to 20 items per collection, and they’re all unique. The first ‘drop’ was a collection of gorgeous upcycled, vintage leather jackets that were hand-painted by artist Chiara Perano; the second is a collection of embellished Teva sandals.
“Fashion [can] be so pressured, especially for designers – the turnaround is so quick,” Bannerman told Vogue about the launch. “The brand is anti-trends; anti everything that is set up in the industry. It’s slow, small, and more exclusive.”
She’s not the only one. In fact, Francine is just the latest release in a blossoming market of ultra-curated ‘capsule’ second-hand fashion sites: ones where the sellers do the hard work of picking out what to wear for you.
It’s not news that second-hand shopping is having something of a renaissance. The global resale market hit £151.74bn in 2024, according to Global Data, and is only growing.
Within that space you have sites like Depop and Vinted, which have seen staggering growth over the past decade. Vinted’s net profit hit £70m million last year, while Depop generated £63m in sales.
But scrolling through endless fields of clothing pics on the off-chance you’ll stumble across something great in the wild gets tiring. Increasingly, shoppers are instead turning to sites like Retold and fellow second hand site Curate and Rotate to unearth those rare finds for them, or to help them curate the ‘look’ they’ve been searching for.
“We're very curated, which is what, I think, sets us apart,’” agrees Melanie Milham, who runs Curate and Rotate. “Everything that is online is something that we would wear ourselves and that we feel fits in with the way in which we would dress ourselves.” For Milham and her tiny team, that involves lots of minimal, neutral-toned outfits, adorned with pops of colour or statement accessories – as well as favourite brands like Raey and Tibi.
This model isn’t about quantity. Instead, it’s all about limited edition ‘drops’ of clothes, often between 20-50 items, that are released every few weeks and include both vintage finds and designer ones (and indeed, vintage designer pieces).
The same applies to Retold. Set up in 2018 by Clare Lewis after a long stint working at Topshop, she decided to start selling her vintage clothing finds online after inspiration struck during a trip to America. “Instagram had just started kind of featuring these more curated sellers, that had a very specific aesthetic,” she says.
“And I was like, ‘Oh my god, I've never seen that before. For me, vintage had been about actually going into a vintage store and hunting for it, nothing being organised or curated. Then I saw these people doing it very differently, and I was just like, ‘I love that.’”
Retold is small-batch. Lewis and her team source and style vintage and designer finds themselves before uploading them to the site in curated ‘drops’, where they quickly sell out. To say that it’s been a success is putting it mildly: Retold currently has 47.6k followers on Instagram, and has run several successful in-person pop-ups, with plans to do more in future.
“I know that some people love the idea of having their own aesthetic and have a confidence to create their own style,” says Lewis.
“But I know that lots of people also like this idea of a curated viewpoint. You go to certain sellers because you resonate with their perspective and what they like to collect and what they like to source, whether that be designers or a certain aesthetic or a certain era of vintage fashion.”
In the past few years, the market has expanded. In addition to Retold, as well as Curate and Rotate, there are even smaller sites (such as Francine), whose ultra-limited drops are the product of months of hard work.
There are other benefits to going small, too; namely, the quality. “Sites like Retold have made it much easier and accessible to enjoy vintage and second hand. I think people are definitely seeing the benefits of it,” Lewis says. “Just in terms of the quality that you're getting. Why buy a brand new blazer that's only 40% wool when you can buy a vintage version, that's 100% wool?”
As the market continues to boom, one thing’s for sure: our obsession with second hand isn’t going anywhere.
Where to start
Curate and Rotate
This is a great place to find all things neutral toned and chic. Drops are often weekly (on Tuesdays), and include plenty of items from brands like Tibi, SIR and Raey. Keep your eyes peeled for the brand’s new dress collection too, which is available to pre-order.
Retold
Clare Lewis’ platform is the place to find all things vintage. Items range across decades (from Issey Miyake to vintage Giorgio Armani), making it the perfect place to pick up something a little bit different. Price points vary too: come here for an investment piece, but also for a lovely cami from the 90s.
Francine
Super high-end. Set up by Amy Bannerman, Francine sells upcycled items for the conscious shopper. Previously that was a capsule collection of gorgeous painted leather jackets that cost around £350 each; currently, it’s a collaboration with hiking sandal maestros Teva, which are on sale for £150.
Jesse and Iris
Before Jessie and Iris launched, its founder worked at a vintage shop just off Carnaby Street; in 2020, she set up her own business. Every piece that makes it onto the site is hand-picked, and even better, they’re not expensive: think vintage pieces, 1970s dresses, 90s graphic tees and an excellent collection of jackets.
Circular Groove
This London-based business describes itself as an “online concept store which offers curated capsules of pre-loved items.” They’re on a mission to make circular fashion desirable (and sexy); head over to the site to peruse drops of items that do just that. Expect plenty of high-end designer stuff, with some vintage thrown in.
