Pre-owned Gucci Store offers chance to buy and sell designer clothes
ANEW shop in Bristol enables customers to buy, sell and trade pre-loved clothes from some of the biggest names in designer fashion.
ClothingXchange has opened in Broadmead and the two floors are packed with good quality clothes, shoes and accessories from labels and designers such as Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Canada Goose, Ralph Lauren and Alexander McQueen.
The shop is the idea of Texasborn businessman Jeff Holland, who has launched ClothingXchange as a new high street concept in sustainable fashion.
It’s something of a departure for the 46-year-old, who had a successful career in finance in the City of London for more than 20 years.
But now Jeff has swapped hedge funds and pension management for fashion retail and if the Bristol store is a success, it may even become a national chain.
Apart from the number of famous high-end labels, the first thing you notice about the clothes on sale in ClothingXchange is the quality of the items and also the shop itself.
With its antique furniture and well organised rails of colour-coordinated coats, jackets, shirts, dresses and trousers, it looks like any other high quality clothes store.
But it’s all pre-owned and the prices are a fraction of what they would cost if you were shopping in a posh department store.
The Broadmead shop used to be a branch of Ann Summers and Jeff says they had to do quite a bit of work to the site to make it the tasteful store it is now.
“There was a lot of ‘hot pink’ in here when we took the site so we had to pull it all out,” laughs the owner, who splits his time between homes in West London and the Cotswolds.
The front door of the shop has an ornate Christmas decoration and the window displays also have a festive feel with mannequins wearing Canada Goose coats and others sporting Ralph Lauren scarves and Louis Vuitton bags.
Former London Business School student Jeff made his fortune when he sold the investment company he owned with a friend before his 40th birthday.
Since then, he has invested his time and energy in charitable organisations including as acting chairman of mental health charity Humen and the International Refugee Trust.
“Yes, opening a clothes shop is a bit of a switch,” says Jeff.
“I had a career in finance which I enjoyed but when we sold the business, I went into semi-retirement at the age of 39. I went travelling for two or three years and went on a few wonderful trips around the world. I’d always worked and never had a gap year so I was making up for it!
“But then I started to work more with charities – after working in the City, there is a feel good factor to working with charities and helping people.”
There is also a strong sustainability angle to ClothingXchange, which only buys and sells current, on-trend clothing and accessories in excellent condition.
The stores website lists all the reasons why buying pre-owned clothes can help to reduce environmental pollution and it makes for pretty shocking reading.
Statistics such as textiles treat
ment and dyeing contributing 20 per cent of industrial water pollution, or that 70 million oil barrels and trees are used each year to produce our clothes, will have many consumers questioning their shopping habits.
Jeff says: “I wanted to start a new business that I enjoy but also one that was aligned with my personal values and doing something positive, otherwise what’s the point?
“I had been observing the buytrade pre-owned clothing model back in the US, where there are two or three chains with 50 or more stores. There wasn’t a mainstream equivalent on the high street in the UK, just boutiques selling vintage clothes.”
The shop sells clothes for men, women and children, with the designer labels downstairs and good quality unbranded urban items on the first floor.
In the first few days of trading, business has been brisk and sales going up each day, with many students particularly interested.
Jeff says: “We didn’t want to be too focused on designers, we just wanted interesting items for all tastes and budgets. Most of the items are between 25 to 35 per cent of the original price.
“We get a lot of university students, especially Chinese students who appreciate certain labels. I think Bristol has a very individual sense of style and people like oneoff items.
“People can sell their clothes for cash and that extends the life of the clothing when we resell it. People can also bring clothes in and exchange it for a voucher for the store. We are getting a lot people who are interested in a particular label but who are also conscious of cost. Our Canada Goose and North Face coats are like new and a fraction of the price you would pay in a high end store.
“Buying pre-owned clothes extends the life of the item and keeps it in circulation and that’s the whole point. It’s about quality and good quality items tend to last longer.”
And even Jeff himself has spotted a few items that have taken his fancy since opening the shop.
“I haven’t bought any new clothes for five years, which was partially a conscious decision but I’m not an eco warrior, I just prefer things of good quality that last.
“Earlier in my career in London, I would be buying my clothes in Bond Street and Savile Row and having suits handmade by a tailor.
“But even then, when they started not to fit me I would be frustrated that there weren’t ways of selling them apart from online.
“I used to think it was some sort of a validation of who I was that I could go into a shop on Bond Street and buy an item of clothing for that sort of money.”
He added: “Now, my thinking has completely changed and I just think it’s silly.
“You’re a mug if you go into those shops and pay full price for something, even if you can afford it.
“There are now alternatives to buy those things for a fraction of the price.
“Some of the top designer houses actually incinerate their clothes because they don’t do sales, as they think discounts cheapen the brand. It’s extraordinary.”
So, is Jeff looking at his first store in Bristol as a template for others in the future? He says it’s early days but he doesn’t deny it.
“Let’s see how it goes. If people embrace it, I think this would work in other cities. I also want to do collaborations with designers who are focused on sustainability and people who upscale clothes, as well as run events in the Broadmead store.”
Jeff thinks the stigma of buying pre-owned clothes is starting to go away and he wants ClothingXchange to make great designer clothes more accessible to people.
“We’ve had people in who aspire to a nice Mulberry handbag but it has never been within reach. We’ve now put that item in reach for them by selling it cheaper than other places.
“We’ve tried to create a nice atmosphere and have a high level of customer service to address this stigma of buying pre-owned clothes.
“We want people to have as good an experience as they would in any good quality clothes store and we’re trying to remove every reason why people would object to buying pre-owned clothes.”