Ebay launches Pre-Loved Fashion Week

Dive Brief:

• Ebay will launch its first Pre-Loved Fashion Week in partnership with the Council of Fashion Designers of America and the British Fashion Council, according to a Wednesday news release.
• The event features live, shoppable runway shows featuring pre-owned looks from designer brands including Khaite, Off-White and Simone Rocha, per the release. These runway shows will precede the official spring-summer New York Fashion Week and London Fashion Week shows next month.
• In addition, the resale platform will offer daily drops of curated pre-loved fashion and accessories. The “Endless Runway” shows will be accessible to U.S.- and U.K.-based shoppers via eBay Live.

Dive Insight:

In 2023, almost $50 billion worth of secondhand luxury products were sold globally, eBay said in the release. The company added that younger customers in particular drove high-end resale in their search for “accessible entry points into the traditionally exclusive luxury market.”

Pre-owned and refurbished goods comprise 40% of eBay’s gross merchandise volume, the company said in the release. On average, global users of the platform searched for the word “vintage” more than 1,000 times a minute in June. 

“With the launch of Pre-Loved Fashion Week, we’re showing up on fashion’s biggest stage and demonstrating that authentic designer fashion doesn’t have to be out of reach,” Kirsty Keoghan, eBay’s general manager of fashion, said in the release.

The New York event will be curated and styled by model and social media personality Wisdom Kaye and co-hosted by writer Liana Satenstein, and the show will offer pieces from designers including Toteme, Brandon Maxwell, Eckhaus Latta and Ralph Lauren, per the release. Shoppers can tune in to watch the show Sept. 12 at 6 p.m. BST exclusively on eBay Live.

Meanwhile, the London “Endless Runway” presentation will be curated by eBay’s Pre-Loved Style Director Amy Bannerman and co-hosted by model and television presenter Leomie Anderson, and will feature pieces from designers such as Christopher Kane and Molly Goddard. 

“When I style my own outfits, the goal is always to break through conformity, to create something that’s totally one-of-a-kind — and choosing pre-loved gives me limitless possibilities,” Kaye said in the release. “Plus, it’s the most sustainable way to actually own the designer items you love but feel unattainable.”