Mara Hoffman debuts archival sale with Vestiaire

Dive Brief:

• Luxury resale platform Vestiaire Collective and designer Mara Hoffman announced a partnership this week to sell Hoffman’s archives, according to a press release sent to Fashion Dive.
• The sale features a curated collection of more than 90 selections from past seasons, including basics and collector pieces, per the release. Prices range from $84 to $577.50, and several items had already sold by press time.
• Launched during Climate Week in New York, the sale is designed to promote Vestiaire’s role as a B Corp fashion resale platform focused on circularity and sustainability. The partnership kicked off with a hosted panel discussion on fashion circularity in Brooklyn, New York, on Sept. 24, per the release.

Dive Insight:

Hoffman, who won the 2023 CFDA Environmental Sustainability award, put her namesake brand on pause in May after 24 years and closed her New York store. At the time, the designer said it had become too challenging to create sustainable clothing, and that “anyone in this industry, specifically within the sustainability movement” was aware of the problems.

This archive sale provides a “seamless way to bring continued life and longevity to the Mara Hoffman brand,” Hoffman said in the release.

“Our respective companies’ ethics and commitments have always aligned and we found this partnership to be an opportunity to celebrate and support each other,” Hoffman said. “I am proud to expand the brand’s availability to a broader customer and for these timeless pieces to stay in circulation.”

Pieces offered through Vestiaire are available in sizes XXS to 3XL, and include swimsuits, tops, skirts and the designer’s popular Sloan popcorn dress, with some of the most collectible pieces, including an embellished Luisa dress, sold out on the resale site by press time.

“We’ve long admired Mara’s work for her creativity and dedication to conscious fashion,” Samina Virk, U.S. CEO of Vestiaire, said in an emailed comment. “We hope our community finds pieces they may have missed the first time around and rediscovers her beautiful brand.”

Vestiaire has been working to expand both its collections and reach this year.

The company relaunched its vintage category in April, and the following month, it expanded its partnership with luxury digital retailer Mytheresa to allow customers in the U.S. and Europe to receive store credit for reselling their used designer items.