CHINA. A new fashion resale aggregator founded in Shanghai has officially launched after receiving its first pre-seed investment.
Named dejaWOOO, the platform has been developed with the aim of promoting sustainable fashion rather than fast fashion in the Chinese market.
dejaWOOO – which said it aims to inspire Chinese consumers to “see fashion differently” – has been co-founded by Chen Liang and Gregory Cole, who also run the boutique brand, marketing and communications consultancy éCLAIR Asia.
Early investors in the business include Jean-Michel Dumont, a founding member of Asia Society France and Senior Adviser at Finn Partners.
Initially the business will curate products from selected global platforms through its ecommerce website and WeChat mini-programme.
The dejaWOOO founders aim to grow the new venture into the most comprehensive aggregator of global pre-owned fashion, allowing Chinese consumers to search, browse and compare millions of products from a growing list of international resale platforms.
“With dejaWOOO we are building a bridge between international resale platforms, Chinese consumers and luxury brands looking to participate in the pre-owned market” – dejaWOOO Co-Founder Gregory Cole
Cole told The Moodie Davitt Report that dejaWOOO has already connected with eight resale platforms globally, including The Luxury Closet, Collector Square and What Goes Around Comes Around, giving access to 100,000 + products.
“Moving forward we’ve identified at least 40 platforms that meet our key criteria, focusing on pre-owned luxury and designer fashion,” Cole told us.
Beyond offering a convenient and transparent way to shop for pre-owned premium and luxury fashion, dejaWOOO will invite Chinese consumers and luxury brands to embrace the global circular fashion movement through its own upcycled “WOOO Series” capsule collections, social video content and influencer activations.
The company observed that China is entering a boom period for second-hand luxury fashion consumption. Accounting for around 8% of the global market, this segment of China’s fashion market has historically underperformed compared to its primary luxury consumption, according to dejaWOOO.
Domestically, second-hand also occupies a smaller share of the total luxury market in China (5%) than in western countries and Japan (30%). But, dejaWOOO noted, it is catching up fast, growing at more than +20% year-on-year from 2014 to 2018.
Liang said: “We’re thrilled to finally share our vision of dejaWOOO, just as China enters a turning point in the growth of circular fashion. With dejaWOOO, we hope to inspire more and more Chinese consumers to change their perception of the pre-owned market and widen their fashion horizon to include iconic styles spanning decades, not just the latest collection.
He added: “We want to build a community, not only a tool, where people are open-minded, bold, and embrace sustainability.”
Cole said: “China is the global leader in luxury fashion consumption, yet it has been slow to embrace pre-owned fashion, in part due to low consumer trust in authenticity. Meanwhile, we know that international platforms that benefit from sophisticated authentication teams are keen to engage with Chinese consumers.
“With dejaWOOO we are building a bridge between international resale platforms, Chinese consumers and luxury brands looking to participate in the pre-owned market.
“Thanks to our experience in luxury marketing and our resources in data analysis, we can aggregate and present their products in a way that meets the shopping preferences of globally-minded Chinese consumers, and help them better understand these consumers’ needs and wants.”
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