Fashionable

Our generation’s attitude to fashion has been undoubtedly influenced by social media. People feel the need to invest in every micro-trend and, maybe even more alarmingly, people feel like they can only wear their outfits once. If these are both predicaments that you find yourself falling into, renting could be the perfect solution. If you like to wear something new for every night out, then you really should be renting these pieces. Not only does it allow you to express yourself through fashion but, as previously stated, it is a much more economic and sustainable option to buying something new every time. Similarly, if you want to try a trend-piece that you know won’t be a staple in your wardrobe, you can hire it and style it with the core-items that you already own and return it for someone else to try after.

Another fashion-orientated benefit to renting is that it allows you to experiment without commitment. Is there a certain style that you’ve been wanting to try but don’t want to fully commit to? You can rent pieces and see how wearable you find them, test whether they work with your current wardrobe and make an ultimate decision afterwards. This allows you to really play with fashion in a way that buying items doesn’t. This way you can have some fun with different styles and trends without having to buy into them if you’re unsure. Similarly, if there is a certain item or style that you like but it doesn’t really fit in with the rest of your wardrobe, you can still give it a go without having to work it in with your pre-existing items.

£ 119.32

Hurr Collective Isabel Marant Leather Knee High Boots

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£ 104

By Rotation Perfect Moment Metallic Jacket

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£ 47.86

Hurr Collective Coucou Lanai Co-Ord Set

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£ 87

By Rotation Paco Robanne Silver Bag

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Economical

It will be no surprise to you that we are currently navigating a cost-of-living crisis; with this in mind luxuries, such as fashionable clothing, have become much less accessible for many households. While this context is very important and prevalent right now, the economic benefits of renting clothing pre-dates this current crisis. Take formalwear as an example, if you are attending an event and need an outfit specific to that dress-code, it just makes sense to rent your look rather than invest in an outfit that you won’t have many opportunities to wear. By Rotation, even has specific sub-sections for you to shop from depending on the event you’re attending. Whether it be a wedding-guest look or even a ski trip, By Rotation has you covered. Saving money by renting these less-wearable looks then allows you to re-invest this money into the staple pieces for your wardrobe.

Similarly, is there a designer piece that you have had your eye on but can’t afford to buy it? Would it be the perfect look for your birthday or engagement party? Again, renting could be an economic solution to this problem; you can find pieces from Fanci Club, Reformation and even Jean Paul Gaultier all available to rent for a fraction of the retail price. 

Another economic benefit to renting is that you can rent out your pieces as well and actually earn some of the money back from the item. Think of all of the things that you’ve bought for specific events that you have never worn since, or those summer dresses that spend 8-months at the back of your wardrobe. You could be renting these pieces out instead of allowing them to gather dust in your home. Renting truly is a win-win system.

£ 52

By Rotation Indian Yellow Dress

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£ 625

Farfetch Marchesa Notte Strapless Appliqué Gown

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£ 361

Farfetch Euro Sciapra Delhy Paisley Silk Scarf

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Environmental

The fashion industry is one of the main contributors to the climate crisis, in 2020 World Economic Forum reported that the “fashion industry produces 10% of all humanity’s carbon emissions and is the second-largest consumer of the world’s water supply.”

Similarly, The True Cost has shared that:

“The world now consumes about 80 billion new pieces of clothing every year. This is 400% more than the amount we consumed just two decades ago. As new clothing comes into our lives, we also discard it at a shocking pace. The average American now generates 82 pounds of textile waste each year. That adds up to more than 11 million tons of textile waste from the U.S. alone.” 

It goes without saying, then, that something has to change within the industry. One of the most beneficial things that we can do to limit the environmental impacts of the fashion industry is to consume less. Investing in long-lasting staple pieces for your wardrobe and renting the rest when you need it, is the perfect way to cut-down your consumption as well as giving a new lease of life to items that may not be worn to their full capacity otherwise. 

It’s Vintage Darling!

Finally, renting also offers access to some great vintage pieces. This means that you can track down and borrow some fantastic looks that you simply cannot buy anymore. In the same way we see celebrities and their stylists dipping into the archives, renting means that you can too.

_{Words by Amelia Gregory}

^{Header Image by Hurr}

The post Why You Should Be Renting Your Wardrobe appeared first on Voir Fashion.

Could you first tell us a bit about Cudoni? And how did you start working for the resale site?


Cudoni is a luxury marketplace where people can buy and sell preloved luxury goods. We provide a full-service approach, collecting your luxury goods from your home and managing everything from product photography to buyer inquiries. I knew I wanted to be a part of a fast growing business where I can share my skills and knowledge in other avenues. As well as authentication I also have input in the stylisation of products, our listing process and so much more.

What does your role in authenticity involve day-to-day?


No day is the same which is one of the main reasons I fell in love with authentication. We take an array of products meaning I could have a vintage Thierry Mugler runway piece to authenticate, or a Chanel 19 bag straight from the store. It’s always exciting to see what the day entails.

On a usual day as soon as an item is placed in front of me, the first thing would be to get a general feel of the bag, leather, stitching, quality of the hardware and the overall quality. I then check the serial code and brand stamps to ensure that the font is correct and that the date of production is aligned with the serial code, by this point I have my verdict on the item’s authenticity.

Were you always interested in the resale market and vintage goods?

I always knew I would do something in fashion so I originally started in sales for pre-loved luxury. As the industry progressed I became immersed in the world of authentication. Resale overall is such an exciting industry and I look forward to being part of it while it grows.

It’s almost Christmas time, so do you have any advice for buying luxury gifts for loved ones?

I would suggest going for an accessory as it’s one size fits all, a cute card holder, tie or a scarf. Clothing can get quite tricky as sizing varies from brand to brand, and when gifting, you’d want to make sure it’s something they’ll use again and again. I’d also stick to classic brands like Gucci and Louis Vuitton.

Do you have any top tips for ensuring authenticity when we’re buying designer accessories during the Christmas period? 


My best advice would be to always purchase from a reputable reseller, like Cudoni. Items that have been authenticated by in-house experts are checked before they are shipped to the buyers to make sure the condition description is accurate. If they ever have any doubts about an item, they would never accept it for sale. It’s the safest way to shop for pre-loved luxury goods.

What are some red flags to definitely avoid when shopping for pre-loved items?


The biggest red flag consumer should look out for is the image and whether it’s an image from the official brand page. Many of the replica sites pick up the images so that the buyers are convinced that they’re getting the real deal – that is never the case. Another would be if the price is too good to be true.

A general rule of thumb is that if it sells for less than 25% of the current market value of a similar model, it is likely to be a fake.

Do you have any favourite fashion brands or certain eras we should keep an eye out for when buying pre-loved items?

My personal favourites are Chanel, Hermes and Dior. They’re timeless and classic, I know I can pair my Mini Lady Dior with a dress for dinner or wear it crossbody with a hoodie. Let’s not forget the great investment you’re making as classics hold their value as they’re kept in current production lines and are super versatile. Contrary to popular belief, it’s not always the limited editions that are worth more than the classics. They may sell for a premium on the resale market as soon as they are released due to the hype and scarcity but as soon as something new drops, the market steers towards the latest.

We’re sure many people have accidentally bought fakes before, has there been a fake designer accessory that made you second-guess if it was actually authentic? 


Counterfeit producers never get it 100% right, they’ll always be off by one thing at which point we would reject the item. Some put a lot of work into how the item looks and completely ignore the interior of the bag and make it to the poorest standards. In other instances, they have attempted to perfect the date code but that specific model was not released until four years later. But no matter how much work goes into counterfeit products, they’ll never be able to match the quality standards of the luxury houses given their decades, and in some cases, centuries, of expertise and craftsmanship.

How does the authenticity process differ between items? Is it a different inspection for clothes compared to handbags or jewellery? 


Each product category is entirely different, for example, silver jewellery could look silver but we assess and specify whether it’s AU750 or 925. For bags, certain brands have their own leathers like Hermes has Epsom and Courchevel, both similar in appearance but two different types of leather.

The entire process is super comprehensive, and for authentication, we must scrutinise all the tiny details for each and every product.

The resale market is continually growing bigger and bigger, do you think it will eventually become the dominant method of buying clothing and accessories?


Absolutely! People are more conscious of their purchasing habits and when buying preloved luxury, you are in fact purchasing high-quality products for a possible fraction of the price.

There’s a reason we still see Hermes Kelly bags from the 1960’s circulating the resale market. Prime example, say a bag has an RRP of £1300 and goes into an outlet for £850, but then you see it on the resale market for £450.

You’ve essentially saved yourself a lot of money! So why not save money and the planet at the same time?

Is there a particular reason why you think people often prefer to buy pre-loved items?

Based on my experience when it comes to preloved luxury items, it’s narrowed down to two things. One is that the item is discontinued therefore it can only be found on the resale market since the brand no longer produces it. Secondly, people want to own luxury items but not with the hefty price tag. The pre-loved market caters to all sorts of buyers, which makes this such an exciting industry to work in. From fashion curators, contemporary stylists, to your average fashion student who needs that Issey Miyake Bao Bao bag to fit all her art supplies in!

Do you have an all-time favourite item that was sold through Cudoni?

I don’t think I can forget this item – I remember placing it in front of me and gathering the whole team! It was a Chanel pink cropped jacket from Spring 1995, it was runway look 5 modelled by Meghan Douglas. This jacket was from an era which was the year of the supermodels such as Claudia Schiffer and Naomi Campbell so to have authenticated this item was really exciting.

Is there a particular vintage piece in your own wardrobe that you would never part with?

I think once you work in resale, it’s hard to part ways with any pieces you’ve purchased because you know the likelihood of them coming back around is close to none. But my all-time favourite would be my vintage Gianni Versace Medusa sunglasses, I plan to rock them for the next 50 years to come.

Words By Ella Citron-Thompkins

Photo Credit: Cudoni Instagram

Shop the products at https://www.cudoni.com

The post Voir Enters The World Of Fashion Resale With Cudoni’s Head Of Authentication appeared first on Voir Fashion.

Rental fashion is a simple process, which puts you in the driving seat to make a difference to our environment and industry. The service of rental fashion allows you to rent outfits for a certain amount of time, whether it be dressing up for a special occasion or looking smart for a job interview. To help you out with choosing which rental service to use, we have compiled a list of our favourites:

Rotaro 

Fashion that is kind to the planet doesn’t get much better than Rotaro, as they intend to plant a tree with every order! The site gives you access to a multitude of world class designers, with some of the most on trend items we have seen from rental sites. The process of renting from Rotaro is just as easy as purchasing an item from a fast fashion site, with guaranteed free returns and no deposit necessary. Rotaro also offers next day delivery all whilst travelling carbon neutral in reusable bags and boxes, perfect for anyone who leaves buying an outfit till the last minute. 

4Element 

Specialising in rentals for vintage designer jewellery, 4Element acquires some of the most unique designs available to rent. This includes the rental’s proud holding of Haute Couture designs, obtaining pieces from private collectors around the world. 4Element’s rental service is perfect for jewellery lovers, and anyone who wants to make a statement with one of a kind designs. 

By Rotation 

Founder Eshita Kabra-Davies kickstarted By Rotation after seeing first hand effects that fashion waste was having on her motherland Rajasthan, India. Her determination to counteract the environmental impacts of fashion has seen By Rotation transform into one of the most popular accessible and sustainable rental sites, gaining over 100K followers. The process of renting from By Rotation is all done in their app, ensuring that consumers have an easy 2 minute experience when lending or renting. The app is engaging to use, complete with style edits, size categories and trending brands, allowing you to see all the incredible outfits, accessories and jewellery available to you from the click of a button. 

Front Row London

Branding themselves at the ‘Net-A-Porter of renting’ Front Row London operates as a luxury-on-loan site, giving renters access to high end luxurious designer items from up and coming brands or well established brands such as Dior, Alexander McQueen, Fendi and many more. With on site fashion edits consisting of wedding and night out looks, Front Row London makes itself the perfect candidate to use when in need of an occasion piece that you would probably only wear once. 

Cudoni 

If renting still doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, you can be sustainable when purchasing items through sites such as Cudoni. Launching in 2017, Cudoni is the UK’s only full service luxury resale platform. The site makes it easier than ever to access vintage items from some of the most luxurious and sought after brands, with jewellery, accessories, clothes and much more available to purchase second hand. On the flip side, if you’re reading this and thinking about that Gucci handbag you haven’t used in 10 years, you can resell your designer items through Cudoni’s simple and seamless service. 

Words By Nadia Clasper

^{Photo Credit: 4Element}

The post 5 Sustainable Fashion Sites To Use Over The Festive Season appeared first on Voir Fashion.

A colossal 13 million items of clothing a week are carelessly sent to landfill with the textile industry accounting for up to 10 percent of the worlds greenhouse gas emissions. Believe it or not this is more than international aviation and shipping combined! By consumers only purchasing second-hand clothing they can help Oxfam with their work to reduce these emissions. As well you can share your finds using the hashtag ‘secondhandseptember’ and tagging Oxfam so you can do your bit and help spread the message. As if everyone partakes in altering their shopping habits these small changes can make a massive difference.

Miller has been the focal point of a stunning photoshoot which will be seen on posters in the windows of over 500 Oxfam shops. In these images she is showing off her glamorous Oxfam clothing to represent the ongoing fight with throwaway fashion. These clothing items will be available for shoppers to purchase in Oxfam’s pop-up shop in Selfridges London, so they can dress to impress too whilst contributing to a sustainable future.

Sienna Miller said “I am delighted to be the face of Oxfam’s Second Hand September to help draw attention to how choosing second-hand fashion can be kinder for our planet. These small changes can make a huge difference. And rooting around in a charity shop is like hunting for treasure. Be a magpie! #secondhandseptember”.

“Rooting around in a charity shop is like hunting for treasure.”

Sienna Miller

And she is not wrong! This campaign can be welcomed as a thrilling challenge as Oxfam’s stores have vintage gems up for grabs that can’t be found anywhere else.

Oxfam’s pop-up shop in Selfridges has been styled by the charities independent fashion advisor Bay Garnett who has included garments which will evoke nostalgia for the 1980s such as punk inspired clothing. This shop will also be selling a one-off T-shirt for the event designed by illustrator James Lacey.

Bay Garnett is a big advocate for this event as he claims, “I have always loved charity shopping – the creativity involved in putting random clothes together to make an outfit, and the independence of choosing second-hand…I  love how the Selfridges pop-up shop brings Oxfam prices to Oxford Street, making it a choice that’s accessible to everyone’s pockets.”

Other brands supporting Second Hand September includes House of Baukjen who are launching their new Pre-loved scheme as they taking customers old clothing and recycling them into something new with 50% of net proceeds donated to Oxfam. Ebay, Joules and Superdry are also companies working alongside this scheme to help the cause by giving clothing a new lease of life.

There are no excuses to not take part either as this challenge is accessible to all as people can also support this campaign by shopping on the Oxfam Online Shop. And the silver lining of these purchases is that the money you spend will be put into the charities lifechanging work. For example, they aid people in coping with severe weather events such as the Cyclone Amphan in India and Bangladesh last year as well as planning for the consequences of future climate change.

It’s more important than ever to take part in this fight as Danny Sriskandarajah, Chief Executive of Oxfam GB states “Scientists warn we have just nine years to prevent catastrophic global temperature rises so all of us – governments, companies and individuals – have a role to play in rapidly reducing carbon emissions”. So, by opting for the second-hand clothing purchase, we can leave a lighter footprint on the planet as well as showing retailers that fashion needs to be slowed down. Just because you can’t feel the effects of climate change, does not mean no one else can. That is why by donating your money to Oxfam through these second hand purchases you are helping some of the world’s poorest people cope with these climate changes.

The Oxfam x Bay Garnett pop-up shop runs from 6 September until the end of December and the money raised will go to Oxfam’s work beating poverty around the world. The charity has 70 years’ experience of championing second hand so there is no place better to spend your money. So, what are we waiting for? Let’s take part in this challenge and shop smarter for September and join Sienna Miller and many more in the battle against climate change.

Words by Josie Cooke

The post Are You Ready To Take On The Challenge Of Second-hand September? appeared first on Voir Fashion.

A new cohort of entrepreneurs are revolutionising the online-shopping game. If you don’t know already, Depop is the e-marketplace app that allows its users to buy and sell clothing (among other items) and in-turn instigates sustainable purchasing decisions for its users.

But how?

With 80% of Depop’s 11 million users being under 25, resale and reuse culture allows them to contribute to reducing their reliance on fast-fashion brands in an affordable, cost-effective way. Due to popular sustainable fashion brands such as People Tree and Ninety Percent charging roughly £50 for an eco-friendly shirt, buying ‘pre-loved’ or vintage on Depop allows items of clothing that may have been thrown away to have a chance at a second life.

The work of Depop store @essiistore does exactly that. The brand focusses on taking vintage pieces and reworking them into new one-off items. Clearly this type of fashion is popularising as the store has 24k followers and is a Depop Community Leader, meaning it works closely with Depop to help grow, guide and educate the community. Charlotte Coulthard, behind the brand states on social media that her favourite thing about selling on Depop is: “being able to combine [her] passion for vintage clothing… and helping the planet to be more sustainable”.

Bella McFadden (aka “InternetGirl”), another Depop Community leader currently boasts 581k followers on the app. Her vintage re-sells on has led her to build herself a career, a e-commerce website and financial stability. Currently her items along with @essiistore, @194local, @sillyyat and other seller favourites are showcased IRL at Oxford Street’s Selfridges.

Until the end of October, the pop-up Depop space will showcase two different sellers a week. Those selected to display their vintage, luxury, reworked, streetwear and independent looks are brands that have been recognised by the app as advocates for reducing fashion’s global impact. The company prides itself on how its platform helps to “empower the next generation to transform fashion”. Chief Marketing Officer, Peter Semple, states “sustainability is changing the landscape of fashion and the Depop community is helping to define this movement”.

Depop’s admiration for people that rework, reuse and recycle is further shown in their collaboration with designer Nicole McLaughlin, the streetwear artist whose entire design premise of based upon upcycling the old to create something new. On Depop YouTube documentary “Creativity & Sustainability with Nicole McLaughlin”, viewers are reeled into Nicole’s world – from thrifting an old Colombia jacket to completely recreating it into a pair of boots.

Her Instagram feed acts as a portfolio for her viral designs – think Capri-Sun slides and tops made entirely from Nike hats. Her art epitomises the exact kind of sustainability Depop loves. Nicole, in fact, first sourced from Depop to make her now-infamous boots, as stated on the video. Her work parallels with the apps’ principle that one seller’s trash is another person’s treasure. Fans of Nicole definitely seem to agree with her green practices:

“Reworking IS the future and it IS a new form of art. This is going to be the next HUGE thing in fashion and for the first time, an actual ground-breaking movement” reads a comment on the video.

Depop, in its small 8 years of being, has managed to garner a cult-following. It has been able to construct a distinctive aesthetic among Gen-Z and the fashion intelligentsia undoubtedly represented by its collaboration Selfridges on its campaign “The New Order – exploring how the digital revolution is changing the way we live and shop”.

The app, known to some, as Instagram with a ‘buy’ button, clearly provides a way for the social media generation to purchase and sell clothing that is sitting inside another person’s wardrobe rather than a landfill. As the stigma behind buying second-hand dissipates, Depop is clearly a front runner in the online fashion world. It lets people maintain individualism with its one-off piece culture, allows young people snatch up bargains and simultaneously helps save the planet all in one place, what’s not to love?

Words by Hena Sharma

Graphics by Katie Janes

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