Double Bay dilemma? Luxury second-hand stores are rapidly replacing upmarket boutiques

Capital Gain

Uber-wealthy Mosman and Double Bay are in the middle of a second-hand fashion revolution where used clothing stores – once sneered at – are rapidly replacing upmarket clothing boutiques.

Vintage clothing retailer Uturn recently took over Saba’s premises in Mosman’s Military Road and, down the street, Trading in Style has replaced fashion retailer Bounce. Once-thriving fashion labels, like Cue’s sub-brand Veronika Maine, have closed.

But the used-goods purveyors lining Mosman’s streets are not your typical Vinnies or Salvos op shop (although Vinnies has a store there, too).

Instead, they sell quality, high-end – but pre-owned – clothing, handbags, shoes, sunglasses and jewellery at more affordable prices. Designer labels frequently sell for half the new price.

Many of the stores sell items on consignment – the “rent a rack” model, where people pay a commission to sell their clothes in-store – or are self-sourcing stock.

The shops, dubbed “cash converters luxe”, have a mix of higher-end vintage – more than two decades old – or more recent haute couture and accessories sourced from deceased estates, wealthy downsizers, retirees or executives keen to offload wardrobes of fancy frocks and handbags.

Military Road sports 10 second-hand stores: among them a Vinnies and Lifeline compete with Lovett Store, Venla, Veri, Uturn, What We Wore and long-term resident Closet Couture. Trading in Style is set to open soon.

Over the Harbour Bridge in Double Bay, wealth and status don’t necessarily mean second-hand is second best. But in the Village, selling used goods requires an overlay of discretion.

In Revivre’s luxury consignment store on New South Head Road, shopping at the racks and shelves of authenticated Chanel, Louis Vuitton and other pre-loved high-end brands is by appointment only.

Double Bay Village has at least three similar shops.

“We have serial shoppers who love coming in, or we reach out and tell them what’s landed here,” Revivre’s Julie Sutherland said.

Customers really enjoy pre-loved shopping, she says. “Once you get that hit … it’s the hunt, and then when you conquer, it’s really quite addictive.”

Sutherland has about 300 vendors who happily open their wardrobe and sell last year’s dress or a high-end bag they inherited and kept tucked away for years.

“Our average customer age is mid-40s to mid-60s, and in some cases we deal only with the executive assistants, to keep the vendor’s discretion. It is a fun industry,” Sutherland said.

The luxe second-hand trend is spreading. Neutral Bay has Muse, Relove – a destination for savvy shoppers. Paddington, Randwick and Clovelly are also hotspots for upmarket pre-loved labels, while inner west Newtown remains a favoured haunt for more traditional op-shop consumers.

Landlords are happy. Second-hand stores bring in custom, have lower overheads, take longer leases and can pay their landlord rent without fear of the chain’s owner going under and closing overnight.

Vanessa Rader, Ray White’s head of research, said many high streets lost their clothing and soft-goods tenants some time ago, with food and services generally filling the gap.

Fast-fashion operators like Temu and Shein prompted some consumers to go the other way, Rader maintains. “Affluent strips have held on to fashion for longer, but as some major brands close or consolidate their store networks, consignment and resale operators are moving into those spaces,” she said. “These stores suit the local demographic.”

Lovett Store owner Jo Kelly has three consignment racks in her Mosman store. “More and more people are seeing this style of shopping as normal,” Kelly said. People don’t want to pay $1000 at a high-end outlet when they can pay half-price for the same label, she said.

“Fundamentally, people want a bargain, at the end of the day. My customers come in for a school formal dress, wedding attire, race-day outfits and now Christmas drinks,” Kelly said.

“They come to my shop, find a beautiful outfit from the same label, wear it for the event, dry-clean it and bring it back here to resell.

“Many don’t care any more that it could be their neighbour’s dress, bag or shoes. That stigma has gone.”

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