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Labell-D’s co-founder Julia Vendramin has set her sights on simplifying the circular economy
IT’S NO SECRET THAT ATTITUDES TO CLOTHES ownership have changed drastically over the past decade, and will continue to do so: the fashion-rental market is forecast to increase to $7.5 billion by 2026 (up from $3.3 billion in 2020), while the resale industry is expected to grow by 52 per cent between now and 2026. But for the entrepreneur Julia Vendramin – who has spent more than 15 years working in luxury merchandising at brands including Hugo Boss and Burberry – the market is still too fragmented for consumers to navigate easily. ‘There are a lot of different companies offering one service, but there isn’t any single solution to everything,’ she says. IT’S NO SECRET THAT ATTITUDES TO CLOTHES ownership have changed drastically over the past decade, and will continue to do so: the fashion-rental market is forecast to increase to $7.5 billion by 2026 (up from $3.3 billion in 2020), while the resale industry is expected to grow by 52 per cent between now and 2026. But for the entrepreneur Julia Vendramin – who has spent more than 15 years working in luxury merchandising at brands including Hugo Boss and Burberry – the market is still too fragmented for consumers to navigate easily. ‘There are a lot of different companies offering one service, but there isn’t any single solution to everything,’ she says.
Enter Labell-D, the online platform she has co-founded with her husband Nicolas (also a luxury-fashion veteran), which brings together sales of new and pre-loved clothing with rental and repair services, making the customer journey easier and keeping clothes in circulation for longer. Since launching in May 2021, the company has raised £280,000 in investment and brought on board Gucci, Stella McCartney and Acne Studios, among other luxury houses. At the heart of Vendramin’s vision is a ‘
