Second-hand and vintage shops have been a common sight in most international cities for many years, be it clothes, accessories, decoration items or furniture. Items held dear by previous owners have fans in Luxembourg, too, but can it be called a general trend or is it still a niche interest?
RTL Télé talked to four young women who have come up with a variety of concepts over the past year.
Laure Cales was motivated mainly by the idea of sustainability. The 30-year-old has always been concerned about the environment and sees her second-hand shop Pilea as a way to help combat the fast fashion industry prevalent today. She received the keys to her shop in January 2020.
She did not allow the fact that she could only officially open in May, instead of March, to diminish her motivation in the slightest: she believes in her concept. Nevertheless, the first days were not easy, which she also attributes to the fact that the second-hand trend has not really reached Luxembourg just yet.
Cales explains that in Luxembourg, people associate second-hand either with luxury items or charity. However, she does think that young people between the ages of 20 and 40 as well as parents are already much more open to the idea than previous generations.
Fanny Bervard and Yasmin Frieden have chosen to tackle the matter in a slightly different way. The two friends both have a background in the fashion industry, have been working together since last year, and founded their new project "Bisou Vintage" in mid-February.
Their concept mainly focuses on second-hand or vintage designer and luxury brands. Bervard and Frieden intend to sell their wares via Instagram and pop-up events. While the large majority of items come from their own wardrobes, they also want to offer guest sellers the opportunity to sell their own items in the context of their project.
However, at the moment, they do not consider their project a profitable business model yet, which is why they are currently considering expanding it in the future.
One of their ideas, Bervard explains, is to offer customers the option to rent an item, instead of buying it. They could then, for instance, rent a €2,000 purse for one night out and only pay €150.
Lynn Olk is the founder behind the Instagram account Margot&Marie, which was also created in 2021. Olk is a young woman who always had a passion for vintage and decided to name the account in honour of her two grandmothers.
Her idea is to share her passion for browsing flea markets and selling the treasures she finds online. However, she does not consider her project a potential business opportunity, rather seeing it as a hobby she can pursue during the pandemic as her main job has more or less been put on hold due to the health crisis.
While she does not know where the project will lead, as it is in fact rather time consuming to pick up, clean, and post the items, Olk explains that she will simply see what is doable and what is not once the time comes.
