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Missed out on a secondhand Dries gem this week? You’re not the only one. Disappointment echoed around the industry as people rushed to resale sites, only to find their favourited items had already been snapped up.
Dries Van Noten’s retirement announcement on Tuesday morning provoked an outpouring of grief from fans of his eponymous label, which he has helmed for almost 40 years. It also drove a surge in demand for pre-loved items that encapsulate the designer’s signature style. On Tuesday, searches for Dries Van Noten surged 200 per cent compared to the day prior on The RealReal. Demand is up by 40 per cent compared to last month, according to the platform, and the average selling price is up 22 per cent.
Vestiaire Collective has also seen double the number of searches for the brand versus the beginning of March. On luxury resale site Resee, searches for Dries Van Noten rose 450 per cent after he announced he was stepping down, according to co-founder Sofia Bernardin — making it the most-searched label on the site this week.
How can resale sites capitalise on such moments, which can be sudden and short lived?
The first step is to find stock. Chandler Guttersen, owner of New York-based Vintage Grace, was on the hunt. “As a fashion enthusiast, I know it’s important to collect original pieces from designers,” Guttersen says. “With Dries’s announcement, that means that he will no longer be designing, making his original designs coveted, valuable and collectible.” She’s eyeing Van Noten’s women’s SS15 collection in particular, which was notable for its intricate detailing and pops of colour.
Those versed in sourcing fashion finds were quick to grab the opportunity. In Wednesday’s edition of her shopping newsletter Magasin, Laura Reilly linked to a host of Dries items up for grabs on The RealReal (alongside Ssense sale pieces), for readers to “induct a piece of Dries-helmed Dries into your personal archive while the man, the myth, the legend is still steering his namesake label”. Most of those items have now sold.
Others are selling to capitalise on heightened interest. Writer and creative specialist Jo Rosenthal sold a Dries top on Tuesday. She also sold her Phoebe-era Celine items when Philo launched her own brand. “The more everybody wants something, the less I want it,” Rosenthal says. “I want to part with things I own by them as much as they wanted to part ways with their jobs… When a designer steps down, my closet makes way for new items.”
Will high demand last?
This Dries-mania hints at a wider resale phenomenon: when a designer exits, interest surges. And with increased interest comes heightened value and price across the secondary resale market, says Rachel Glicksberg, manager of women’s fashion and new initiatives at The RealReal.
People want to claim the lived experience of “Dries at Dries”, experts agree.
The same thing happened when Tom Ford stepped down last April. “His retirement announcement brought about two of our highest demand months,” Glicksberg says. Tom Ford handbags had a 23 per cent lift in sales demand in April. “We also see demand for other chapters of the designer’s career, including his Tom Ford for Gucci era, which is one of our top sought-after vintage eras.”
“When people see that the end is in sight, they want to say that they have participated in something when it was going on to have been part of that slice of history as it was active,” Reilly says. “Even younger people who now appreciate what he’s been doing, but weren’t necessarily part of the original wave, want to be part of it.”
It is, in part, thanks to a wider shift in archival fashion interest, she adds. “Since archival fashion has grown into more of a mass-appreciated segment since [around] Covid, people understand the value of these different eras that come out of brands,” she says. “They see that they have longer term investment, appreciative qualities. They gain more of this weight of historical significance.”
Reilly points to Ann Demeulemeester, Van Noten’s fellow Antwerp Six member: “When we think about why people want to collect the brand from the namesake designer, it’s important to look at a brand like Ann Demeulemeester, who also recently passed over the reins to a new creative director and then a second creative director. It’s been this rollercoaster, and Ann collectors have doubled down on finding Ann by Ann pieces.”
Is this always the case? It depends on the current designer’s success. “The impact on resale really depends on the strength of a designer,” says Neil Saunders, managing director and retail analyst at analytics firm Globaldata. “But, generally, if it’s a popular designer who produces very directional pieces it may inflate resale values.”
When Philo launched her own line, resale sites saw an uptick in pieces from her Celine days. And when she dropped her first collection in November 2023, demand for Phoebe-era Celine rose 21 per cent on The RealReal.
A designer exit is a big moment, but it’s also not the only force of impact. “Demand for certain designers and the eras that span their careers ebb and flow due to their career updates and cultural discourse,” Glicksberg says. This runs the gamut, from celebrity style to runway moments to trends.
Momentum can last — for the right designer. Alongside Philo’s Celine, demand for Ford-era Gucci remains strong, Glicksberg says. Vintage Grace’s Guttersen continues to keep an eye out for Ford’s YSL and Gucci pieces, as well as John Galliano for Dior.
Will the Dries hype last in the same way? Experts don’t think so. After 38 years under its eponymous founder, there’s an abundance of Dries by Dries product for shoppers to sift through. This also means prices are unlikely to skyrocket.
“There is just so much available on The RealReal and other resale and archive sites that I don’t think it’s ever going to enter into a scarcity mode,” Reilly says. “Dries has never been one of these insanely good resale or investment kinds of brands. It hasn’t really had that luxury status as a Puig house versus an LVMH or a Kering. It’s hard to imagine it reaching fervent trade status.”
That said, Glicksberg still anticipates an uptick in price. “Given the industry’s mourning, post-Dries Van Noten’s retirement announcement, it’s safe to say his mark on the industry was both strong, with a personal moving touch,” she says. “In cases where designers are truly retiring from the industry, as is the case with Dries, their work becomes like a historical artefact, only increasing in value and demand.”
It’s for this reason that secondhand retailers jump on these surges of interest, and adjust the pricing to suit. “Consumers may not like this, but the laws of supply and demand allow a secondhand firm to push prices higher,” says Globaldata’s Saunders.
There’s likely to always be a supply pool of Dries made by Dries for those who want it — without too hefty a price tag — Reilly says. This, she adds, is in keeping with the designer’s ethos. “Dries has always wanted to be available to those who connected with it,” she continues. “That being able to live on even after he is at the house through the resale aspect of this is something that’s nice to imagine in the future.”
With reporting by Laure Guilbault.
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