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What if I told you that you could shop iconic pieces from Vivienne Westwood and Christopher Kane straight off the runway, at a fraction of the price?
For the first time ever, eBay is hosting runway shows during fashion weeks in NYC and London and Oxfam have partnered with Vinted on their seasonal showcase—and the pieces will be available for purchase as soon as they hit the catwalk.
While putting pre-loved fashion on the runway is not necessarily new—Oxfam has been hosting its runway show spotlighting pre-loved outfits put together by second-hand fashion pioneer Bay Garnett for several years—this season, vintage and pre-loved are stealing the spotlight. Oxfam returns for its seasonal showcase “Style For Change” on Sept 12, this time in partnership with global online second-hand marketplace Vinted. The collaboration makes Oxfam the first charity in the UK to run a wardrobe shop on the international online marketplace.
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That same evening, eBay will be hosting their first-ever runway show with the support of the British Fashion Council and shoppers will be able to buy pieces immediately off the catwalks.
For its NYC “Endless Runway” show, eBay tapped TikTok star and stylist Wisdom Kaye to curate the catwalk looks, which will mainly highlight designers showing on the calendar like Ralph Lauren and Khaite, while its LFW show, styled by Amy Bannerman, will similarly include British talents old and new like Alexander McQueen and Wales Bonner.
“Second-hand isn't second best” is the Oxfam activists' slogan this year and it rings increasingly true. The cost of living crisis has driven consumers to shop more wisely, while Gen Z has been leading the charge with their obsession with all things vintage. According to eBay, younger consumers fueled the sale of nearly £40 billion worth of second-hand luxury products in 2023, and Global eBay users on average searched for “vintage” over 1000 times a minute (I've certainly contributed to a high percentage of that!).
The star power behind second-hand campaigns has also increased in wattage over the years. Kate Moss and Felicity Jones have fronted Second-hand September campaigns for Oxfam, while Traid launched its largest celebrity campaign ever in celebration of its 25th anniversary this year, featuring a host of sustainability-minded celebs like Michelle Dockery and Patrick Grant.
Runway shows first started in 1860s when couturiers like English fashion designer Charles Frederick Worth used real models instead of mannequins to present his creations in Paris to his top clientele. Boundaries around the rarified format have been broken down in modern times, but putting second-hand on a platform traditionally reserved for newness signals a stark change in consumer attitudes today.
We're letting you in on the secret.
Context matters. When Zendaya revived an archival Mugler robot suit for the Dune premiere, it cast a drastically different light on vintage pieces than when they're sat in the corner of a dusty store on Portobello Road. In the same vein, highlighting pre-loved on the runway says second-hand fashion is no longer an afterthought, it's as covetable as new.
As LFW celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, we could only expect this shift to be a sign of what we have in store for the next 40. For now, we're keeping our eyes peeled for more pre-loved moments on the runway next week.
