I Miss You Vintage is your place to find the latest high-end designer items at a fraction of retail price. But we are also supporters of the conscious commerce movement. We play a key part in keeping the fashion life cycle circular by providing an outlet for fashion-conscious shoppers to resale their pre-owned and unwanted designer label goods.
The retail fashion industry is not sustainable
Did you know? *
- Fashion will drain a quarter of the world’s carbon budget by 2050
- 26 billion pounds of textiles are dumped into global landfill each year
- A single T-shirt takes 700 gallons of water to produce
By shopping resale and giving your pre-owned items a second life by consigning them, you are extending the life cycle of your garments by as much as 2.2 years. Buying one used item reduces its carbon footprint by 82%. *
Resale is mainstream
Everyone is talking about resale as the newest category disruptor and the line between new and gently pre-owned fashion is becoming increasingly blurred. If shoppers can get a high-end designer item at the fraction of original retail while being eco-conscious, it’s a win win situation for everyone.
Did you know? *
- 1 in 3 women shopped resale last year and many are shopping resale for the first time
- 64% of women have bought or are now willing to buy second-hand products
- 26% of luxury shoppers also buy second hand
- Today, millennials are the largest consumer group for shopping resale (40%)
- the number of women who shop resale is rapidly growing
Long gone are the days where shopping and wearing “used clothes” is frowned upon. We are thrilled to see how mainstream resale shopping is becoming and are proud to support the social message that reusing and wearing second hand items is a good thing for the environment.
Why shop resale?
Resale meets the consumer’s demand for value, variety, and sustainability. The biggest allure of resale is getting better brands at lower prices. More bang for buck and stretching the dollar. Who doesn’t want to score that Chanel jumbo flap bag at a fraction or original retail? Shopping resale lets you acquire items that you couldn’t afford new or simply don’t want to spend the full retail price on. It also makes the high-end luxury fashion market accessible to the pedestrian consumer and opens it up to a new range of buyers, allowing shoppers to more frequently update their looks. Shop, consign, reuse, repeat.
Unlike retail stores which offer fixed seasonal collections, resale shopping provides a larger variety. Daily new arrivals from all seasons are enough to satisfy anyone who doesn’t want to be seen in the same dress as the other girl at next week’s party.
For those who can buy anything, resale is great for sourcing that unique one of a kind item that is vintage, sold out elsewhere, discontinued, or limited edition. Did you know that the classic and popular Chanel Grand Shopping tote was discontinued in 2015 and can only be purchased on the resale market now?
Finally, with the sustainability model you can feel good about shopping resale and it will keep those that are addicted to the thrill of the find coming back.
Why consign?
Fashion is seasonal and trends are cyclical so we know that what you wanted in your closet last season isn’t always what you want this season. Our consignors are regular shoppers and want to keep their wardrobes fresh and updated.
Did you know? *
- Over a third of women wear an item less than 5 times
- 43% of all fashion purchases are impulse buys
- 70% of the average woman’s closet goes unworn
We’ve all been there! But our attitudes towards our wardrobes are changing too as we move towards apparel rotation, not accumulation. Today’s consumers no longer shop with the intent to keep items indefinitely and consider the resale value of an item before buying it. *
Instead of feeling guilty about shopping habits, you can put your unwanted items back into the resale cycle and feel great for putting your closet back into use. That’s enough to make even Marie Kondo proud.
Charitable donations
I Miss You Vintage receives hundreds of items weekly and we carefully edit our collection to represent the best brands. Items that we pass on or items that do not sell after a period of time are further donated down the chain to charitable organizations such as New Circles.
New Circles Community Services is a not-for-profit, grass-roots agency that builds strong and caring communities by providing basic necessities to those living in poverty. They provide much needed clothing, employment skills training, and settlement support to individuals living on a low-income. Their core mission is to ensure that local families struggling with poverty can meet their basic need for adequate clothing. They operate the largest clothing bank in Toronto under the name of GLOW (gently loved outfits for wear).
We also work with Savers / Value Village Corp. who will donate a percentage of their profits from donations to charity and will further recycle unsold garments to international aid charities in countries like Africa. So we are a step in the larger chain of the clothing life cycle.
I Miss You Vintage is in the business of selling pre-owned luxury fashion but we prefer to look at it like we are “rehoming items” and participating in a larger eco-conscious cycle by re-purposing last season’s cast offs, and helping others do their part. So we can all feel great about looking great.
*All statistics and facts are taken from Thred Up’s annual 2018 and 2019 resale reports.