What happened
China’s booming second-hand luxury market is encouraging an increasing number of players to venture into the sector. Recently, dejaWOOO, a fashion resale aggregator that makes it easier for Chinese fashion consumers to search for, discover and purchase pre-owned luxury and designer fashion worldwide, officially launched after receiving its first pre-seed investment.
Headquartered in Shanghai, the platform was developed to inspire Chinese consumers to “see fashion differently” and promote sustainability over fast fashion. Through WOOO Select and WOOO Series, the platform offers curated product lists in Chinese from authoritative global fashion resale platforms and upcycled collections in partnership with designers and fashion influencers, respectively.
The Jing Take
China’s luxury resale market only makes up 5 percent of the country’s luxury consumption — far below mature market levels in Europe, the US, and Japan (25-30 percent). But that also indicates the country has much growth potential. According to the 2021 China Idle Luxury Consumer Goods Retail Industry Research Report, released by iResearch, the second-hand luxury market will soon exceed 30 billion. Yet, the sector is now facing a challenge that could make those numbers plummet — a growing number of counterfeits has been circulating in the domestic second-hand luxury market. Given this issue, the industry now faces a trust crisis.
DejaWOOO might become a game-changer for this chaotic sector. By connecting domestic shoppers with global authoritative fashion resellers, it should expand the options available in the local market while also affording greater guarantees to buyers, which would boost confidence in the market again.
Chen Liang, co-founder at DejaWOOO, affirms: “When we choose partners, we also carefully check whether they have the ability to appraise luxury products' authenticity. For example, we selected Farfetch, The Luxury Closet, etc., all because they have relevant qualifications.” Additionally, the platform offers a gateway for Western second-hand retailers who would like to expand into the Chinese market as a platform that could assemble all players.
As young consumers continue to embrace circular thinking, resale has become an apt trend — and nothing seems to be as trendy today as a “deja vu” garment.
The Jing Take reports on a piece of the leading news and presents our editorial team’s analysis of the key implications for the luxury industry. In the recurring column, we analyze everything from product drops and mergers to heated debate sprouting on Chinese social media.