The year 2020 has been a rather special year with the health crisis, but all the more so for the world of fashion, and especially thrift stores. Meet United Vintage, an online thrift store you'll love following after reading this article.
The history of United Vintage
United Vintage is a thrift shop based in Annecy, France, born of a collaboration between 3 long-time friends. The aim is to seek out unique, second-hand items to make them accessible to a wider public. These days, thrift shops still carry labels, and a significant number of people still don't dare venture into them. The idea of the group of friends was to change this mentality.
It all started the day after a party, and the entrepreneurial idea quickly took shape, with the desire to embark on a new, atypical and challenging adventure. Together, they decided to set up their own company, in order to achieve freedom, independence and creativity.
"Julien: I moved to London a few years ago and saw that there was a real craze for vintage fashion in England, particularly for brands such as Nike, Adidas and Ralph Lauren. I knew that vintage fashion was starting to develop in France and I thought we could do something with it.
"My friends and I have always liked to dress as authentically as possible by browsing thrift shops, but it's true that in Annecy or even in the Lyon region, it's not very developed and the thrift shops already in place don't have a super-wide choice of quality pieces. Especially as the majority of thrift stores in France don't exclusively sell brand-name clothes and have a fairly limited catalog of this kind of item.
Despite a weak professional network, but thanks to this great motivation the team embarked on this brand new adventure. United Vintage is an online thrift store offering second-hand brand-name clothing. It shows that motivation and perseverance always pay off, despite the doubts we may have at the outset.
Making vintage clothing more visible in France. United Vintage is proud to present a varied catalog, featuring dozens of major brands, including Nike, Ralph Lauren, The North Face, Tommy Hilfiger, Adidas, Burberry, Fila and many more...
It was vital for the United Vintage team to give the e-shop a breath of fresh air and improve the quality of their product offering, offering more choice to their ever-growing customer base. Vintage, a way to stand out in fashion. Today, the lack of originality within the fashion sphere is a terrible burden. Their product selections are meticulously made, one by one.
Three ambitions guide their work:
1. Select unique, original products from leading brands, with guaranteed, certified quality at affordable prices.
2. To ensure your satisfaction, the website is updated on a daily basis, backed up by communication on Instagram so that our loyal followers are the first to know when exceptional pieces go online.
3. Beyond its eco-responsible aspect, buying second-hand clothes allows you to personalize your look. Buying vintage means enjoying a piece that bears a trace of the past and has a unique history.
Not to mention that being a "fripeur" means having a definite taste for the history of fashion. Unearthing rare gems also means realizing the bewildering number of different cuts, materials and styles that exist.
"Benoit: We believe that vintage will become increasingly fashionable over the next few years. Fashion is changing, and we're sure that in a few years' time, the big brands will really be embracing vintage as the norm and the future".
Instagram, the springboard to success and visibility for a vintage e-shop
The vintage e-shop now has over 22,000 followers on Instagram, a fast-growing account at the heart of the vintage community. More than just a visual platform, Instagram is a real springboard and a key element in the success of an online thrift store these days.
Lately, there's been an impressive rise in Instagram accounts dedicated to vintage fashion. But as many of them will tell you, finding vintage clothes is within everyone's reach, but finding beautiful, unique pieces is another job that can't be done by everyone.
Today, vintage is an essential trend in the fashion world, but it's also an increasingly important commitment to eco-responsibility. Fashion is turning more and more to vintage and second-hand.
The clientele is mainly young, but all ages can find their way in. The e-shop mixes people with discerning tastes with customers looking for something specific, including the more curious who stumble across the website by chance.
In the early days, the team only sold on a few sales platforms to earn extra income, but with demand growing steadily this was no longer manageable. They then came up with the idea of creating a website to facilitate access to new pieces.
Today, sales are not just in France, but also in Spain, Italy, Germany... where vintage is far less developed than in France, but the appeal is just as great.
United Vintage's future projects
Thanks to the perseverance mentioned in this article, United Vintage has even carried out a few ephemeral boutique events in different locations (when Covid was not yet with us). The experience acquired over the years has enabled United Vintage to establish itself as one of France's leading vintage pioneers.
A wider choice of vintage clothes and brands will soon be available online, to satisfy even greater demand and keep vintage fans happy.
Feel free to follow them on Instagram: @united.vintage
Blog link: http: //www.lapausemodemagazine.com/2021/04/mode-united-vintage-la-friperie-en.html