London’s Latest Resale Player is Banking on Million-Dollar Babies

Babies in Balenciaga . Kids in Kenzo. Youngsters in Yeezy . Call it the Kim Kardashian (North West?) effect. Blame late-stage capitalism . Either way, there is a market for used infant Isabel Marant .

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That’s why Lucy Walford initially launched her luxury children’s resale platform, Littlest Luxuries, in 2017, but she soon realized “the business needed to pivot” if she were to serve her customers in the way she set out to.

“It became impossible to keep up with the volume of demand and inquiries that came with a consignment model,” Walford told Sourcing Journal. “I knew moving to a marketplace was the natural next step.”

So, she joined forces with British reality show “The Apprentice” finalist Stephanie Affleck’s own kids’ resale platform, Little House Fashion, to become the go-to destination for used luxury kids’ clothing.

“Existing luxury marketplaces focus predominately on womenswear, with childrenswear either being an afterthought or excluded entirely,” Affleck said. “ Vestiaire Collective has millions of women’s products versus less than 10,000 children’s products.”

Granted, the demand for adult luxury and kid luxury is not balanced. The former was valued at nearly $281 billion in 2022 by market intelligence platform Arizton and is expected to reach $401.7 billion by 2028 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.14 percent. The latter is currently valued at $41.6 billion, projected to reach $73 billion by 2034 at a CAGR of 5.8 percent, per Future Market Insights .

“We want to encourage people to extend the life span of a product, given that we wear our items 40 percent less than we did 10 years ago, and use resale as a way to move away from the throw away mindset ,” Walford said. “Within our particular demographic, this is very important, given the speed that children grow out of clothes.”

Bringing together both their expertise and the knowledge acquired from individually running childrenswear resale businesses is “really Littlest Luxuries’ biggest unique selling propositions,” Affleck said, as “no one knows this product or customer better.” The idea is to make the London-based marketplace the go-to destination for not just depositing outgrown garments but also where to find “new-to-you” ones.

“Shopping more sustainably for your children shouldn’t have to feel like a compromise on fashion or style; we’re ensuring we accommodate everything in one place,” Affleck said. “We really have taken the time to get to know our customers over the years, listening to their feedback and building Littlest Luxuries to their wants and needs.”

Both Affleck and Walford said they speak to customers daily who express frustration with the lack of authenticated platforms for them to offload their kid’s luxury goods onto in an easy and accessible way. “There’s either an issue of exclusion or clunky processes that are limiting the sector at present,” Affleck said. “We’ve tackled these pain points head-on to create a solution.”

That solution looks like this: options. Littlest Luxuries offers the quick and easy peer-to-peer model as well as the white-glove consignment model. The peer-to-peer service charges an 18 percent commission on the sale, while the VIP service charges 40 percent, “simply as the service is more time and labor intensive,” Affleck said. For the latter option, Littlest Luxuries prepares the items for sale (like steaming or ironing), snaps some professional photos, creates the listing, stores the items and sends them out on the seller’s behalf. The former option, essentially, requires the seller to do all of the same things.

“The new platform provides a peer-to-peer marketplace that enables our customers to enjoy a much more streamlined experience, where they can upload as many listings as they want in a secure, authenticated environment,” Walford said. “The new model also benefits us—it’s more viable both from a time and financial perspective and feels like a win-win for the business and, more importantly, our customers.”

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And those frustrated customers seem to be champing at the bit. While the duo was building out the new, merged platform—making their individual sites dormant—they garnered a waitlist of 600 customer profiles ahead of the Sept. 2 launch.

“The new platform has been designed to provide an elite experience for our customers, thanks to their feedback and insights,” Affleck said. “Building a trusting community of buyers and sellers is of the utmost priority for us, and we’re confident they’re going to love the next phase of the Littlest Luxuries platform.”

That platform uses marketplace software from Helsinki -based business Sharetribe as well as custom-built layers of other software to “make for a unique and easy-to-navigate customer experience and upload portal,” Walford said. The authentication process is powered by Real Authentication, a virtual verification service. Creating a space where customers can sell and buy confidently regarding an item’s legitimacy was of “paramount” importance to the brand.

“Many existing platforms have processes that can be onerous and if there’s a problem, it’s dealt with retrospectively ; it’s left to the purchaser to prove a problem and then wait to receive any refund,” Affleck said. “Customers want to know up front that what they’re receiving is genuine.”

It’s also important to touch on what the solution is not , which is a dumping ground for fast fashion —or any brand that falls out of Littlest Luxuries’ list of 158 approved labels. Comme des Garçons makes the cut. Carter’s does not. Gucci? Sure. Shein? No thanks.

“We believe that fast fashion brands contribute to excessive production and over consumption; we want to ensure that Littlest Luxuries isn’t used as an end-destination for these items, which often have low repairability and durability,” Walford said. “Instead, we hope to open up access to high quality, designer and luxury items to parents wishing to shop for stylish items for their littlest ones, without compromising on sustainability .”

Walford did clarify, however, that Littlest Luxuries is open to brand suggestions.

The children’s clothing industry has changed so dramatically over the last 10 years, per Affleck, primarily driven by economic factors. That, coupled with the growing shift toward a “ waste nothing ” attitude, has fueled an increase in questions around how childrenswear can be navigated “more responsibly,” given how quickly kids outgrow gear. Per Mintel , 91 percent of consumers (who are parents) agree it’s important to pass on good quality clothing to other parents. Even more so, these respondents are more inclined to sell used items—a trend Affleck and Walford deem indicative of the space’s future.

“Quite simply, Littlest Luxuries exists to facilitate that,” Affleck said. “It’s something we’re both incredibly passionate about and our sole focus is on providing the best service we possibly can, so that we can accelerate toward a lower-impact children’s fashion industry that still feels stylish and fun.”

While Littlest Luxuries is currently focused exclusively on the UK market —which makes sense, given their individual existing customer bases—it hopes to expand into the likes of Europe and Asia to tap into the “massive” secondhand and luxury markets in those regions.

“We know that a huge part of the future of kids’ fashion is circular,” Affleck said. “We plan to be a part of that.”

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