The Best Vintage Designer Sites To Scour For Pre-Loved Gems Online

If the New Year has you thinking about making small changes in order to live a more environmentally conscious lifestyle, taking stock of your wardrobe is a great place to start. Of course, investing in sustainable brands that prioritise the planet (rather than buying fast fashion labels) is one way to go about it, but thinking about fashion in a more circular way is another option for reducing your carbon footprint.

Purchasing pre-loved, secondhand or vintage fashion will not only help to keep clothing out of landfills, but it's also the perfect way to curate a decidedly unique wardrobe and cultivate your own individual personal style.

However, when it comes to purchasing vintage pieces that happen to designer, a little more due diligence is often required. There are a lot of dupes floating around the internet, so ensuring that you are investing in vintage designer items from a reputable source is imperative. Thankfully, there are now more options than ever when it comes to finding authentic designer pieces online, from heavy-hitters like Vestiaire Collective and eBay to smaller boutique vintage dealers like IRVRSBL.

Whether you're on the lookout for an archival 2000s-era Dior dress or you're in the market for an embroidered vintage Fendi baguette bag, ahead are the websites you need to know for sourcing authentic designer vintage items.

With 1.5 million Instagram followers, Vestiaire Collective is hardly an under-the-radar resale platform, but the reason it is so popular is because it offers a vast collection and breadth of products. As a peer-to-peer resale platform, you'll be buying directly from other designer enthusiasts, but don't fret about fakes; the platform has a rigorous authentication process and claims to have a "99.9% accuracy rate in counterfeit detection."

eBay has long been known for its resale products, but in recent years the brand has introduced an 'Authenticity Guarantee' option to help alleviate the risk associated with purchasing designer products second-hand. When purchasing an item with eBay's 'Authenticity Guarantee,' the product will be sent to eBay's authenticators prior to delivery to ensure that you are getting what you paid for.

Melbourne-based IRVRSBL was founded in 2013 and prides itself on its curated selection of rare vintage designer pieces (think everything from Gucci Horsebit bags to Roberto Cavalli dresses). With a digital presence, as well as a physical store on Melbourne's Greville Street, the brand offers a money-back guarantee on authenticity and vets each product thoroughly before posting it online.

Kiko Vintage sources its products from trusted consignment suppliers and vintage vendors across Europe and Japan to find unique products for its monthly drops. The brand focuses heavily on the Y2K aesthetic—hello, low-rise skirts and square-toe heels—sourcing many of its products from the early 2000s.

Hawkeye Vintage is another Melbourne-based label that boasts a 100% authenticity guarantee, sourcing its products from licensed vendors. If you'd like additional peace of mind, Hawkeye also allows customers the option of authenticating their purchases through Entrupy (an AI-powered authenticator with 99.1% accuracy). The brand has a unique business model, in that it sells predominantly through Instagram live, so be sure to follow along on Instagram to hear about all of its sales.

While it has historically been known for its homewares, 1stDibs actually stocks an incredible array of designer vintage clothing and accessories, too. From sleek dresses straight from the early 1990s to A-line skirts from the 1950s, the beauty of 1stDibs is that it regularly lists items alongside the year they were made. In terms of authentication, 1stDibs works with reputable sellers to source its items and also has in-house experts to additionally vet its products.

Based out of the US, The Real Real is a consignment platform that allows people to resell their preloved designer pieces. Having launched in 2011, the brand has become known as a trusted source for genuine designer resale items thanks to its rigorous authentication process, which combines expert knowledge with AI, machine learning and more.

While it is based in the UK, Hardly Ever Worn It (or HEWI, as it refers to itself) is a designer resale platform that ships to Australia and offers both new and older pre-loved designer garments. From Prada coats to Chanel knitwear, all HEWI items are physically authenticated online before being uploaded meaning you can rest assured that your purchases are genuine.