Competitors

Competitors|Atijo

Described by ELLE as ‘Vintage shopping for the truly cool”(Murray Daisy. 2021), Atijo was founded in 2019 by four London-based creatives; Anu Odugbesan, Caitlin Moriarty, Londiwe Ncube and Safiya Yekwai. The brand sells homeware, womenswear and recently launched menswear.

Collections include designer vintage pieces with a mid to high range price point, and is currently only available to buy on the @atijostore Instagram, which has 7,155 followers. Despite only being available on one platform, Atijo’s Instagram feed is carefully curated in a minimal, modern style to reflect the product on offer, varying shots between close-up detail and model shots.

The Instagram captions are very minimal and straightforward to clearly communicate the product on sale. However, this minimises the ability to create a community on the page and build a rapport with customers, as the tone of voice is less conversational, and solely focused on selling the product. Atijo don’t post consistently, partly due to the selling style of their posts, with posts being more frequent when collections drop. Typically they post once a week, and collections have a tonal colour palette.

The brand has featured alongside Retold in Marie Claire, ELLE and Refinery29. The brand doesn’t offer refunds or exchanges, which may deter potential consumers as they can’t try the product on before purchasing.

“We want Atijo to inspire conscious consumption and celebrate style, culture and diversity”.

Atijo’s four Founders.

ELLE, 2021. Atijo, 2021.

Competitors|Another Matinee

Another Matinee was founded by Sarah Brand in 2019, specialising in selling vintage dresses which are collected, repaired and curated into thoughtful collections which tell a story, communicated through detailed photography campaigns. Similar to Retold, the brand is a London-based online vintage retailer and releases regular small batch collections. Vogue described the brand as “expertly curated” (Another Matinee Website, 2021), and Collagerie labelled the brand as “digital vintage shopping at its very best” (Another Matinee Website, 2021).

The brand has 8,327 Instagram followers, their feed is very well curated with a range of posts. They feature artwork and photography to show the inspiration behind the brand and collections. When promoting product, it is shown in a number of ways to keep the content exciting and varied; on the model, off the model styled in a vintage setting using props such as flowers and vases, as well as close up shots of detail of the product. The tone of voice of the brand is very friendly and fun, which matches the bright product on offer. The brand’s colour scheme is orange and blue, enforcing positive themes. The website often uses capitalisation to put emphasis on certain text, making a bold statement.

Although Another Matinee is a direct competitor of Retold Vintage, as the brand specialises in dresses, it doesn’t threaten Retold’s stance as a brand offering a range of wardrobe staples. Retold welcomes a much wider audience, due to the wider range of product on offer, which is reflected through their high follower level on Instagram. The story telling aspect of Another Matinee is very effective and well communicated through text and promotional imagery. This is something that Retold touches on, however perhaps the story-telling aspect could be improved through increased promotion. Another Matinee also don’t offer a subscription service which is something Retold has, creating a community of loyal customers.

“I’d like my wardrobe to be made up of pieces that make me feel something, that capture a memory and tell stories of where I’ve been”.

Sarah Brand, Another Matinee Founder

Another Matinee, 2021.

Competitors|1/OFF

1/OFF is a fashion label rooted in the upcycle movement, transforming high-end vintage garments into genderless reworked contemporary designs, from labels such as YSL, Burberry and Ralph Lauren. The brand promotes circular shopping and their creations help to extend the life of clothing and material. Founded by Xuan,Thu Nguyen and Renee van Wijngaarden, both saw first-hand the amount of waste produced by the fashion industry through their work, and felt inspired to start 1/OFF to use discarded clothes to extend the life cycle and promote a more circular fashion industry by using existing resources.

The designs often use contrasting fabrics and techniques to stand out and create eclectic limited edition pieces, working to connect past with present and fun with formal. The pieces are created by 1/OFF’s team of couture makers, also working with individual creative ateliers who specialise in certain techniques and practices.

Despite featuring similar high-end vintage pieces, the price point of the pieces is slightly higher than that of Retold, perhaps due to the time and skill that goes into reworking the garments in such a unique way. The promotional content distributed by the brand reflects the garments produced, using collage and elements such as tape to create unique collages which intrigue the viewer and reflect the reworked nature of the clothing. The social media content is vibrant and attracts attention, using a range of colours and photography styles to achieve varied posts. They share the creative journey, show what they have been working on and what they want to achieve. The brand has been featured by numerous media outlets, including Hypebeast and Grazia.

“The vintage market is vast, there is so much waste and there are plenty of resources”.

Renee van Wijngaarden, 1/OFF Founder

Competitors|The Vintage Studio

The Vintage Studio was founded by fashion graduate Lucy Winn, and began by specialising in reworked vintage designer mens blazers, which were upcycled to create feminine top, skirt and trouser sets. After being so well received, the brand expanded into reworking other products, including Burberry trench coats. The brand also sells vintage shoes and bags.

The inspiration behind the brand was that with so many beautiful clothes already present in the world, why buy new? The brand offers highly individual pieces that no one else will have. The Vintage Studio is also helping to reduce waste by creating gloves made from excess fabric from other garments.

The brand began in the owner’s kitchen as a one person team, and in 2021 they moved to a small studio and gained another team member to assist with sewing. The range of collections is currently quite limited due to the small scale of the team, however they are aiming to create a more diverse range of designs in the future.

The colour palette of the brand is similar to Retold, featuring a lot of neutral tones, beige and cream. Simple styles with careful tailoring.

The Vintage Studio, 2021.