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Fashion second hand, but not just any: vintage

Let's dispel any possible doubt. This article is in no way intended to lecture anyone by pointing a finger or making them feel guilty for their consumption habits. 

Nor is it about drawing up the edifying status of the fashion industry's impact on the environment. Many articles have already specialized in this mission, not hesitating to flood us with figures that end up losing their meaning and sometimes even their value.

No, this is not about pessimism or negativism. On the contrary, it is about beauty, quality and truth.

This article is an ode to vintage, to fashion and its history, to everything that is so wonderful in its past that it still has a future.

Different levels in the second hand

 For many, second-hand is above all a circular economy. It allows to give back to a garment a part of its longevity, so to consume more responsibly but also less expensive. It can also be an opportunity for a greater number of people to access pieces that would otherwise be inaccessible, because they are too expensive or too rare. However, thanks to their exceptional quality, these pieces have withstood the tests of time and the hazards of life until they fulfill their destiny: to travel between several hands. Each owner embodies the garment, writes the history that will make it truly unique. 

For all this, and for love of fashion, we built Lysis with the will to honor second hand pieces which have a soul. 

 However, beyond the obvious benefits of circularity, we at Lysis firmly believe that not everything called second hand is equal. 

The second hand of "trash" fashion

 Let's start with the example of second-hand fashion as it is promoted today by many platforms: I buy a garment today, I resell it tomorrow. How many "new" clothes can we find there? Isn't this more of a commercial experience than a real will to make clothes live? 

To a certain extent, this kind of resale platform works like the back store of the big brands and manages the returns for them. Thus, if consumers know that they can easily resell their pieces, no matter if they have been worn once, twice, three times, or never, it becomes legitimate to ask to what extent this encourages fast fashion consumption (and compulsive consumption for that matter). Then appears clearly the limit of the second hand as a mode of consumption called "responsible". 

Without demonizing this kind of platforms that have played a major role in the democratization of second hand fashion, we can only deplore that they do not promote the intrinsic value of a garment through the quality of its material and its origin.

The soulless second hand fashion: consumer goods

 To another extent, second-hand fashion also allows to make more high-end and luxury products accessible to a wider population. Some platforms offer consumers a new access to this world too often considered as inaccessible. They can find current or very recent products at advantageous prices. This gateway can only be praised.

However, we believe that this kind of experience remains incomplete. It is often time-consuming and discouraging, and it trivializes and loses the very essence of true fashion: its beauty. Because fashion tells the story of an era, of a vision of the world through a shape, a cut, a print or a color that then becomes so personal and intimate. Because beyond the acquisition of a piece, accessing fashion is above all about choosing your fashion. And to choose, you have to understand. How can we understand a product whose origins are unknown? Whose context of creation, philosophy of the creator, the substance is unknown? Whose history is simply unknown.

To be indifferent to all this is to choose the anti-fashion, the anti-luxury. Without inspiration, without visuals, without aesthetics, without bias, without a common thread, there is no fashion. There are products, consumer goods.

Fashion is much more than that, that's what makes it so profound and interesting, a reflection of the social mutations of a century or a decade, of a collective feeling of belonging, and a reflection of the individuality of each one with its strengths and weaknesses.

The importance of vintage

 At Lysis, we don't just believe that second hand deserves to come back into fashion, we know it must. This is our mission: to promote vintage fashion and give it back its depth.

Vintage is about transmission, a never-ending story, and the eternal restart of fashion. It is the power taken back by consumers from the hands of once powerful brands. It is the appropriation and affirmation of self.

 France, the recognized capital of know-how and fashion, is full of magnificent vintage products: it will be our starting point. But because fashion is synonymous with universality, we want to share with the world the best of our finds: selected with care, represented with style, told with passion, and delivered with excellence. 

We will replicate this wherever fashion is made and vintage lives. Wherever men and women share our vision. By inspired enthusiasts, for true fashion lovers. 

We want to immerse each of you in a fashion universe that corresponds to you, that makes you dream and that makes this dream accessible. We want you to be part of our community of fashion history and second-hand enthusiasts, vintage hunters, treasures owners, whether they are professionals or amateurs. Fashion for real, for everyone and for a long time.