Telfar becomes one of the most valuable resale labels

Luxury resale platform Rebag has revealed that Telfar has become one of the most valuable labels in the resale market, and Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Hermes have reached “unicorn status” for leading the pack in terms of retention value.

According to Rebag’s 2022 Clair Report, which investigates the value of luxury brands on the resale market, while Telfar may technically be at a contemporary price point due to its bag exclusivity and availability due to its drop model, this has led to an increase in resale price. Telfar’s signature Shopping Bag carries an average value retention of 193 percent on the secondary market, meaning that they appreciate to nearly twice as much as their original retail price.

The data shows that Telfar items are consistently over 145 percent of retail price, and for the first time, the brand's average value retention on the secondary market exceeds all legacy brands, including Hermès. The brand’s top performer was the Telfar x Ugg Shopping Tote with 211 percent retained retail value.

Hermès, Louis Vuitton, and Chanel continue to be top luxury brands on Rebag

When it comes to the top luxury brands for 2022, Rebag said for the second year in a row, Hermès, Louis Vuitton, and Chanel held their place as the top three labels, and that their historic legacies played a role as well as their control over pricing and inventory.

Hermès handbags continue to top the list, retaining an average of 103 percent of their retail value, followed by Louis Vuitton with 92 percent, gaining 12 percentage points over last year, and Chanel has increased 12 percent from 75 to 87 percent average value retention.

2022 also saw the average retention values for Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Prada and Fendi rise by a significant amount, added Rebag. Interest in Gucci increased 10 percent from 59 to 69 percent after a big year with the release of House of Gucci, the Hacker Project partnership, and the Ha Ha Ha collection with Harry Styles.

While Bottega saw an increase of 10 percent as well from 50 percent in 2021 to 60 percent in 2022 despite Daniel Lee’s departure. However, Rebag added that “it’s too early” to say how Matthieu Blazy’s appointment will affect Bottega’s average retention value in the long term.

Prada also recorded an increase of 11 percent from 46 to 57 percent with the release of its limited sneaker collaboration with Cassius Hirst and its critically acclaimed men’s collection in Milan. While Kim Jones’ designs continue to be a hit with Fendi seeing an increase of 10 percent from 43 to 53 percent.

Collaborations continue to good investments in the resale market

Alongside bags doing well on the resale platform, Rebag said that the watch market continued to boom in 2022, while adding that there were also early signs showing it could plateau and that it expects more watches on the secondary market with the looming economic uncertainty. Rolex continues to be one of the top watch brands with 113 percent retained retail value, followed by Hublot at 64 percent and Breitling at 55 percent.

Rebag also found that luxury collaborations make for a good investment and continue to be a driver for consumers in the resale market. Top performers included Balenciaga and Gucci’s The Hacker Project, which outperformed the French brand’s other 2022 releases. The dual logo-adorned styles which were particularly popular were the Duffle Bag and Tote, retaining 98 percent and 121 percent of retail value at resale, respectively.

Charles Gorra, chief executive and founder of Rebag, said in a statement: “Consumer shopping trends have shifted immensely over the last year. This year's Clair Report offers unique insight to how customers are shopping and making informed decisions with their purchases more than ever before. We hope these insights will continue to provide transparency in the luxury market at large, expand the product life cycle, and create more circularity.”