The RealReal Reveals ‘ReCollection 02,’ Bringing Design Further In-house
Ornamented coats, cropped blazers, minidresses and more are part of The RealReal’s latest in-house collection: ReCollection 02.
The in-house line transforms unsellable or defective product into reimagined designs. ReCollection 02 ranges in price from $200 to $680 and is available online and in The RealReal’s SoHo flagship starting Tuesday, with the online portion dropping at 10 a.m. EST at Therealreal.com/recollection02. Branded tags denote the upcycled pieces.
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With the exception of, perhaps, a fashion historian, few would figure out how each piece came to be, which is exactly how The RealReal wants it to be.
Some of the damaged product comes from in-store try-ons gone wrong or regular wear that deems it a step beyond regular consignment with The RealReal. Moth holes are patched artfully with safety pins and jewels in one coat makeover, while an evening gown is reworked into bubblegum pink cocktail separates.
As WWD reported earlier this year, the consignor has held aspirations for its very own private label. In April 2021, ReCollection 01 appeared with 50 total pieces. The upcycled collection touted the remixed lifeblood of the likes of Balenciaga, Dries Van Noten, Jacquemus, Stella McCartney and more. The RealReal partnered with Los Angeles-based upcycling and repair shop, Atelier & Repairs, for this first foray.
This season’s collection is a departure for a number of reasons.
Ahead of the launch, James Rogers, director of sustainability at The RealReal, showcased the collection in a preview held at the Madison Avenue store. Each collection, he said, is a trial, though he noted this go-round unlocks greater “opportunity for us to test and learn” by bringing experimentation further in house.
First, ReCollection 02 counts 64 pieces, or a 20 percent increase over ReCollection 01, as the company hopes to scale circular efforts (meaning more product can reach its highest reuse potential). The program is also becoming more trend-driven, based on demand and sales data.
From this collection onward, research and development (including upcycling, design and production) is newly housed under The RealReal’s Circular ReSource Lab+. The RealReal’s in-house designer, Anna Hoevener is spearheading design for the ReCollection program.
“As we head into the holiday season, we’re celebrating the return to having fun with fashion and dressing up again,” Hoevener told WWD. “We wanted this collection to reflect that spirit in a modern and elevated way. One of our experiments with this collection was reimagining men’s wear pieces as women’s wear. We’ll see what the response is like from our shoppers, but that is one potential path to increase the range of sizes and develop more size-inclusive luxury collections in the future, which is one of our goals.”
At the pandemic’s outset, though some aspects of the consignment business were hampered, The RealReal is confident that its latest strides on circularity will further its sustainability mission.
While not reporting sell-through rate for ReCollection 01, Rogers said the collection did experience heightened demand at launch before tapering off.
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