Nike, Chanel, Hermès: internet-based vintage fashion auctions are bidding for Chinese collectors and younger clients

The world’s biggest auction houses are now selling vintage fashion pieces, as more people are collecting them as investments

The number of Chinese clients bidding online tripled last year, and the auction houses are keen to attract younger clients

Reading Time:3 minutes

From Nike to Chanel to Hermès, the world’s biggest auction houses are getting into vintage fashion sales. Photo: SCMP

Published: 4:15am, 11 May 2021Updated: 7:22pm, 11 May 2021

When Katie McNaughton opened a vintage boutique in London, she didn’t realise that her job would one day have more in common with an art dealer at Sotheby’s or a wine trader at Christie’s than with your average shop owner.

And yet – because the appetite for vintage pieces has grown so much that people are now investing in clothes, bags and shoes that they hope to sell at auction – luxury consumers are employing her to give them advice.

“A vintage Chanel bag is like a savings account,” says McNaughton. “Chanel bags went up in value by 12 per cent last year and may well continue to increase.”

Last year, Hermès handbags, Nike trainers, Chanel shoes and Patek Philippe watches were at the centre of important sales at Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips – all auction houses that are using fashion as a way to acquire a new, younger generation of customers. The numbers are impressive: in December last year Christie’s Hong Kong made headlines when it set the world auction record for a handbag when a Hermès Himalaya Kelly sold for US$437,330 (HK$3,375,000) to a young Chinese client.

It feels like a new development in the fashion industry, even if the links have been in place for a while. Christie’s is owned by Kering chairman François-Henri Pinault (Kering owns Gucci, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga and other luxury brands) and Phillips was formerly under the control of LVMH president Bernard Arnault.

But the pandemic has made internet-based fashion auctions more popular than ever – last year, for example, the number of Chinese clients bidding online for luxury fashion tripled.