he resale site has prompted a renewed interest in classic brands.  “I think most young people today call it Y2K, which is basically rediscovering heritage brands, like Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger or Calvin Klein – brands who were very successful in the second half of the 80s but also in the 90s,” Beckerman said.  Not only are younger consumers purchasing vintage items, but brands are capitalising on the trend by recreating some of their classic items.  “Ralph Lauren reproduced a collection of its pieces from the 90s because of this new fascination for heritage,” Beckerman shared.  Depop’s Re/Sourced collection featured 150 vintage Ralph Lauren items including classic shirts, padded jackets and sportswear, and was displayed in a physical pop-up space in London for a number of weeks.  While Depop’s mission has always been to reshape fashion consumption by developing a culture around secondhand sustainability, by working closely with brands, the platform has realised its potential in shaping industry trends, CEO Maria Raga explained.  “I’m in constant contact with brands, and also with all the players in the industry … the shops, wholesalers and our top sellers that are becoming big brands in their own right, to see what we can do to develop and grow. There are huge opportunities for us to continue to partner with other players.” Beckerman believes the lockdowns and resulting isolation for many consumers in the last 12 months has led to a lot of reflection on core values and social interactions, and that consumers will come out of this period with a different mindset.  “[Consumers are] rediscovering the values of the past, the recent past, living simpler lives, more real, more genuine, and we hope that Depop is going to help with that when they need to make fashion choices.” What Gen Z wants  With Gen Z making up a large proportion of Depop’s consumer base, the brand is well versed on the needs of this demographic.  Beckman says these consumers want to be “as independent as possible”, and that brands targeting this cohort need to give them the space to do so. “Give them a space to be able to express themselves as freely as possible. I would suggest [brands] start thinking a bit outside of the box. Don’t try to follow trends, but try and think about what problems you can solve with whatever you do and try to solve them in ways that other people or other companies have not.” He advises taking a few steps back and focusing on “first principle thinking”. Raga highlighted the importance of employing people from Gen Z to help inform decision making. “From Day 1, I was very conscious about the fact that this generation is very different to my generation. My advice to companies is that if [Gen Z] is your focus, hire people from that generation because that is the best way to understand, and then trust them to do things in a completely different way,” she said.  With Gen Z openly questioning the authenticity of brands everyday, Raga said it’s vital that brands are transparent in order to win the respect of these shoppers.  “They are very sensitive to brands not being authentic and trying to be someone else. So if it’s part of your focus to appeal to the generation, it will come [across as] authentic but if you want to try to do it just to increase market share or whatever they will see [through] it.” In the past year, the resale fashion sector has picked up pace and several international sustainable fashion platforms launched in Australia, including Depop, US-based Poshmark and OntheList from Hong Kong. Meanwhile, Gucci owner Kering invested in luxury marketplace Vestiaire Collective earlier this month.