The Accidental Legacy of Pre-Owned Luxury Bags with Charlotte Staerck of The Handbag Clinic

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<v Emily Blumenthal>Hi and welcome to the Handbag Designer 101 podcast with your host, emily Blumenthal, handbag designer expert and handbag fairy godmother, where we cover everything about handbags from making, marketing, designing and talking to handbag designers and industry experts about what it takes to make a successful handbag.

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<v Emily Blumenthal>From Charlotte Sturck to Handbag Designer 101, the podcast.

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<v Emily Blumenthal>Charlotte, you are co-founder and CEO of the Handbag Clinic, the only place to go in the UK for everything handbag before, during and after.

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<v Emily Blumenthal>Can I be correct to assume?

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<v Emily Blumenthal>Yeah, that's a good summary.

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<v Emily Blumenthal>Yes, it is the full life cycle of the handbag within the UK.

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<v Emily Blumenthal>I am so stoked to have this conversation just because what you've accomplished, being such an early adopter to the life cycle of a handbag Like I just want to dive right in, because right now, the ecosystem of where handbags is at it must feel really good that you were able to capitalize on it before people realized that they want to get their hands on used, labeled brand bags.

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<v Emily Blumenthal>So do you want to just dive right into the origin story?

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<v Emily Blumenthal>That is Charlotte.

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<v Emily Blumenthal>Yeah, of course.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>So, yes, handbag Clinic as we know it today has been operating since 2015.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>Prior to that, it was an offshoot from another business that still makes our products that we use in our clinic today.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>So it went from kind of being people who were requesting sofas to be fixed would request for the handbags to be fixed, and then that was sort of too artisans.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>And then I joined the business to take it into where we are today, which was retail stores, a large clinic where we have 15 artisans now and we work on hundreds and hundreds of bags every single month and in the UK we have the largest collection of pre-owned handbags available to shop on next day service.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>It's pre-owned.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>That feels like brand new and, yes, very much I was.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>People used to ask why did you do that with old bags?

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<v Charlotte Staerck>Or what do you do with old bags Before they knew?

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<v Charlotte Staerck>Because you knew yeah, exactly, we knew, and I mean I sold bags from being 16 on eBay.

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<v Emily Blumenthal>So how did that all start?

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<v Emily Blumenthal>I mean 16,.

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<v Emily Blumenthal>Were you a labels girl?

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<v Emily Blumenthal>Were you like?

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<v Emily Blumenthal>You know?

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<v Emily Blumenthal>Where did that love for high fashion handbags come from?

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<v Emily Blumenthal>Because it always has to come from someone.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>I honestly don't know.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>I am the only person in my family like this and I just always like nice things and I really liked handbags.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>When I was very young, I was given a embroidered handbag and it had a label inside, obviously, just from like.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>It would have been from sort of a market store or something.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>When I was about six or seven and I was getting teased in the playground for it, they were like why have you got a handbag to school?

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<v Emily Blumenthal>Because you were wearing a school uniform that you made fabulous with a handbag.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>Exactly.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>I just looked it over my shoulder and said it's designer and walker.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>So you started it.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>Yeah, I've just always been obsessed with bags, but I couldn't really ever have afforded labels ever.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>It just wasn't, you know, in our reach at all.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>But what I did was I started working as soon as I could start working and I saved up with my first, the first money that I got in that I'd earned from a part-time job as a retail assistant, and I walked straight over and bought a DKNY handbag, and then I managed to buy another one, and then I sold those on eBay and then I would sell at buy bags and I'd worked my way up what I call the handbag ladder.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>So I would buy, you know, luella and DKNY, and then I worked my way up to a Muldry bag, which in the UK is you know, was used for it.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>It's the pinnacle, yeah, and now I own a mess.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>So you know I've finally the ladder to the top.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>You created the ladder, yeah, exactly.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>So it really just came out of a need for me to do that, because it was the only way I could see myself getting hold of these bags that I wanted so desperately, and then, obviously, in time it became part of.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>You know, once I launched this professionally, the sustainability impact just became bigger and bigger and bigger, and then the world caught up to us really.

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<v Emily Blumenthal>Can I ask you something, because this is like I am so digging this Were you one of those girls that had a backpack and a fancy bag for school?

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<v Emily Blumenthal>No, how?

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<v Charlotte Staerck>would you carry your bags?

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<v Charlotte Staerck>I would figure it out, I would not.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>Would you like?

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<v Emily Blumenthal>hold your bags at a principal and a fancy bag, because God forbid you be seen with like a backpack, like how clever that.

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<v Emily Blumenthal>So you were one of those Like you'd rather slap your stuff.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>I think it was just it was more.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>For me it was like a fashion country thing, not as much of a sort of a play that.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>It was just like that's what how I wanted to be viewed with this nice handbag and I don't know, I've just I probably did commit the card Nelson of an overloading handbags with school books and things, and there's lots of times that I'd spill water bottles inside and things, which are all things that I'm back to licking six now, which kind of where the adoption of the business, like the growth of the business, came from.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>Because I would kind of before I committed full, wholeheartedly in 2015, and was like let's you know, go for this fall, I would say, you know, I had this problem with a handbag.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>What can we do?

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<v Charlotte Staerck>How can we fix this?

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<v Charlotte Staerck>Is this something that we could work on and help to create those products and services before we kind of launched them out fully as well, because I'm a customer of handbags like everybody else.

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<v Emily Blumenthal>I think you need to be.

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<v Emily Blumenthal>I think, look, in this day and age I mean I speak about this ad nauseam about having to have this intimate understanding of who your customer is, from what they have for breakfast to the car they drive to you know their priorities in terms of what they're doing with their disposable income.

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<v Emily Blumenthal>Right, and you being this like key demographic, of understanding this customer, of saying like, wow, she will save all her money just to have this one bag because this one bag is such an important part of her life, and what does that mean for her emotionally?

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<v Emily Blumenthal>And then you know it really comes down to what she defines a want versus a need and what she's going to spend her money on.

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<v Emily Blumenthal>I would love to talk to you about a few things the learning of authentication.

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<v Emily Blumenthal>And then you had said about like you obviously had day jobs before you fell into this, like were you day jobbing and then you saw your husband with a furniture clinic, and then you were like, little by little, I could just drop my bag off to get it fixed.

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<v Emily Blumenthal>And then people were asking you, like what's this whole story that got you to the handbag clinic, at least at the beginning?

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<v Charlotte Staerck>Well, I worked as a professional buyer for our NHS, so I studied in buying.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>All of my qualifications are in buying, but not for handbags.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>I always dreamt of being a fashion buyer and when I was about 20, I do remember saying I was I mean, you've got them in America, but we do pageants, you know, here, and very much more at a smaller scale, and I stood saying that you know, that's what I want to do, and you were in a pageant many years ago.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>Just, it's like in, like the same as you guys have like missed, whatever that's amazing.

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<v Emily Blumenthal>Did you wear one of your pageant dresses for your wedding?

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<v Charlotte Staerck>No, and we like.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>It's very different here.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>It is like so no, it's no, any of the same.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>We got you get given the dresses to wear and it's just like a little night.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>It's no way the American scale.

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<v Emily Blumenthal>So you weren't wearing lashes at like six years old.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>No, I was like I was like 19 probably, when we did that.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>You've got to be like go for 16.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>I think, okay, no, no, one of the end, no, but I stood on the stage and I said that that's what I would wanted to do, but at the time I just, you know, I was so far away from that.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>I worked, you know, dealing with waste services and I actually worked in the waste industry for a long time.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>And you know it's so strange because when you think about it, you know I was also in the industry.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>Yeah, I worked in, you know, buying things.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>So while I was doing all of this, I was saving up and buying bags and selling things on eBay and, you know, had this love of handbags going on in the background.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>And I actually, when I was 18, before I met my husband, nearly three years later, my God, you were so young, yeah, when I well, you know, when you wear your jeans and you handbag rubs on your jeans and it creates dye transfer, right, I had a screen bag and that happened to it and I was devastated and my boss at the time said hey, I've seen this van driving around.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>It says leather repair on it.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>Why don't you give them a call and she gave me a post-it note with the number on and I found out years later then it was my husband to be his business, because they fixed sofas and they write right right To leather products.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>So when we met three years later, I had no idea and it's just really strange because we met in 2010.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>And you know the increase in people asking for these.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>You know people saying, oh, my handbag has the same problem.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>So I kind of encouraged for this department to be set up that was dedicated to handbags.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>While I did, obviously, my day job, I was very loosely sort of involved in any of the day to day, but, as I say, I would be like a customer saying well, you know, for example, by that point I'd managed to buy a pair of Nebutans and I said the red souls come off straight away as soon as you wear them.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>Like, what can we do about that?

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<v Charlotte Staerck>Right, and you know we worked on the product to get those moving and then, by 2015, it was, like you know, we could actually make this a shop.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>However, if you're going to have a shop, you need to sell something in that shop, right?

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<v Charlotte Staerck>And it just made so much sense to sell pre-owned handbags and there weren't very many people in the UK at all doing it at that point.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>It was more you sort of thrift shops, you vintage stores you try to.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>So it was a very organic sort of growth to taking that plunge and at the time it was like what do I want to do by Chanel handbags or by me replacements?

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<v Charlotte Staerck>And I mean, it was obvious.

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<v Emily Blumenthal>I mean, that's really hard to decide.

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<v Emily Blumenthal>If you ask me, I don't know one is really sexy over the other.

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<v Emily Blumenthal>Did you ever have any experience buying a handbag that you realized after the fact was a fake?

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<v Emily Blumenthal>And I'm sure that had happened to you?

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<v Charlotte Staerck>Yeah, that happened to me for sure on, you know, the likes of eBay.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>So I've always been conscious of the authenticity of items because of shopping pre-owned for so long.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>But I was so fortunate that when we started the handbag clinic because the repair element had built up over around two years by this point I've had so much exposure to handbags and all sorts of kinds and types and ages that normally would not get hold of because it would be people sending bags into repairs.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>So I was able to start really cataloging what meant it was real, what didn't.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>You know, I didn't have to.

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<v Emily Blumenthal>Were you keeping detailed notes of this?

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<v Emily Blumenthal>Like this is for a Chanel bag for this particular style.

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<v Emily Blumenthal>You know, this is what the numbers start with.

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<v Emily Blumenthal>In the interior, the numbers and the code.

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<v Emily Blumenthal>I can tell you what.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>I can tell you the age of a handbag by what's in it.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>Like a Chanel, if you took, show me a zip, I'll give you a rough age.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>Like down to that level of detail you've got to.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>So you know that is was all catalogued and put together and you know I would spend hours and hours and hours of going through these handbags for repair until we sort of start building traction on the resale side.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>And now I mean we authenticate, god, tens of thousands of bags.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>It's, yeah, a lot of bags that we authenticate all the time because we offer an authentication service as well as our is selling through us as well.

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<v Emily Blumenthal>Just to add a curiosity if your husband was driving a truck that said leather repair, was that a family business that he took over, that he decided that, hey, let's have a truck drive around for services, for promotion.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>So they his father sold on a market stall a leather cleaner and a leather protector.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>So especially in the area where from in Newcastle in the northeast of England, there's a very famous market and he would sell this leather cleaner and protector on there.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>And my husband saw him doing that and thought you know what, you could sell these online and created a website to sell those online and now furniture clinic make every product for furniture you could imagine from it's in the US.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>It's like a huge big business now selling wood product, leather product, everything.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>But we still work super closely with them to develop our product.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>So we're always we have a special research and development team who will work with the chemists over at furniture clinic to make sure, for example, landscape leather on Chanel's is one.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>When you restore leather there can be texture implications Right, and we work with them to create a product that it reduces that as much as possible so that if you are getting Chanel lambskin repaired it stays as soft as it physically can.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>We also work with them on like specialist dies and specialist things, everything that we need in our clinic.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>Basically, so, yeah, both businesses have kind of taken off in different directions and he does the furniture product side and still helps us while his chemists help us.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>But I am fully handbag to Nick because I am a customer, as I say.

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<v Emily Blumenthal>This is so fascinating, so honestly, without him having the foresight, with his own father saying like, hey, you're doing this such on a small scale, we can do so much more.

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<v Emily Blumenthal>And then you get involved in saying, hey, you're doing this on such a small scale, we could do so much more.

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<v Emily Blumenthal>This is so incredible.

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<v Emily Blumenthal>Having purchased skins myself to make handbags, this is such an interesting narrative.

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<v Emily Blumenthal>Do you think like designers should be investing in this material to pre code or protect the letters before they even sell them?

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<v Charlotte Staerck>Yeah, like protection is how you make a handbag last Protection and ongoing maintenance, if you like I.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>Often we do like demos with staff, so what I tend to do is I'll get a small strip of leather I will protect one half of it and not protect the other and then you can, we'll tell it to scribble all over it with a biro pen and then the side that's been protected will clean enough and the other side obviously ruined not ruined because it can be repaired, right.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>Right, it's going to cost you a lot more money to have it repaired by one of our experts.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>You have to do a bespoke color match, have to use the right products and pigments and go through all of that process when, if it had just been protected, you could have cleaned it at home, and it really does make the difference.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>It is my number one thing I will preach forever about protecting and regular cleaning, especially of handles, or wipe them down all of the time.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>Re, protect them and your bags will last so much longer.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>I never need to book my bags at the clinic proudly, even though, yeah, because I just make sure that I look after them when I get them.

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<v Charlotte Staerck>So, yes, it is a really important part.

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<v Emily Blumenthal>The fascinating thing is that people don't I mean for better or for worse when you're buying leather.

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<v Emily Blumenthal>It's a skin like any other skin, like the skin on our bodies.

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<v Emily Blumenthal>It wears, it ages, you know, like there's wear and tear, but the beautiful thing about the skin is that the oils from your hands it will actually, you know, make a product look that much more loved, which, in certain particular materials, like the original coach bags which, at least here in America, historically, if you went to any flea market or you know vintage store, the bags that you are most likely to see are these original coach bags before it was sold to Sarah Lee when they were using baseball glove mitts, which those can last a lifetime, because the leather was, like you know, everything was made in the USA.

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<v Emily Blumenthal>They had production in Florida, like they had the biggest factory in Florida.

00:18:13.422 --> 00:18:24.883
<v Emily Blumenthal>That's all gone now, of course, but in terms of the quality of the skins, everything has been diluted year after year after year because you know things get mass, people want price decreases.

00:18:24.883 --> 00:18:26.446
<v Emily Blumenthal>The quality always goes down.

00:18:26.446 --> 00:18:32.821
<v Emily Blumenthal>So there's this massive spread of what things cost, especially in leather, which I'm sure you can speak to.

00:18:32.821 --> 00:18:37.807
<v Emily Blumenthal>How come you never, with all this, never got to create your own brand to go?

00:18:37.807 --> 00:18:40.284
<v Emily Blumenthal>I mean, you have the capacity to say or were you like?

00:18:40.284 --> 00:18:43.145
<v Emily Blumenthal>Oh no, I don't even want to, I'm just not a designer.

00:18:43.346 --> 00:18:44.394
<v Charlotte Staerck>I'm just not a designer.

00:18:44.394 --> 00:18:49.678
<v Charlotte Staerck>I know what looks good, but I'm not the person to create that.

00:18:49.678 --> 00:18:52.298
<v Charlotte Staerck>It's just not in my skill set.

00:18:52.298 --> 00:19:01.997
<v Charlotte Staerck>I work well with you know, obviously, the authentication I've always naturally taken to analyzing the price points, making sure we're selling things at the right price point.

00:19:01.997 --> 00:19:27.441
<v Charlotte Staerck>But an actual crafting and designing and manufacturing process is so different and our processes are like no two days are the same, whereas obviously if you have something where you're putting out 50 to 50,000 units of something, you know it's a very linear process, whereas I kind of thrive in the chaos of what we do because it's right, you know something's in and it's white and it's going to go black.

00:19:27.441 --> 00:19:37.836
<v Charlotte Staerck>Something's in and it's getting fully restored, something's in it's getting a new lining and like there's always this, like something different happening every single day and that's just so much more me.

00:19:38.650 --> 00:19:52.298
<v Emily Blumenthal>Yeah, that is busy and I must say it's smart Because, as you know, with the cycle of bags coming in and out and trends like to get involved with that, it's like, wow, that's a whole other business right there.

00:19:53.150 --> 00:20:00.955
<v Charlotte Staerck>Yeah, it's a really difficult market and you know with the powerhouses if the brands and sell you know the big, big brands that do so well, it's so hard to break through.

00:20:00.955 --> 00:20:09.150
<v Charlotte Staerck>And you know we've seen brands like Zuckmas and other brands kind of start to really break into that and we see it transcend into the pre-owned market.

00:20:09.150 --> 00:20:14.159
<v Charlotte Staerck>You know we've seen when we first started doing this, tom Ford was a brand that we would sell quite frequently.

00:20:14.159 --> 00:20:18.631
<v Charlotte Staerck>We very rarely get a Tom Ford in anymore but we get lots of Zuckmas we get.

00:20:18.631 --> 00:20:20.759
<v Charlotte Staerck>We've obviously seen the rise of Lueve.

00:20:20.759 --> 00:20:25.936
<v Charlotte Staerck>I really enjoy that trend spotting piece from a kind of, you know, being part of a market.

00:20:25.936 --> 00:20:28.137
<v Charlotte Staerck>Yeah, that already exists around us.

00:20:28.549 --> 00:20:40.739
<v Emily Blumenthal>I want to talk a little bit about that in terms of trends and so forth, and in terms of bags then, if you dare even feel comfortable talking about it, because I don't want to make you talk about anything you don't feel good about.

00:20:40.739 --> 00:20:45.099
<v Emily Blumenthal>What bags have you seen, or certain silhouettes or so forth?

00:20:45.099 --> 00:20:50.653
<v Emily Blumenthal>Of which brands have you typically seen the ones that come in the most, that you're the least?

00:20:50.653 --> 00:20:52.739
<v Emily Blumenthal>Surprised that you're like yep, here it is again.

00:20:54.069 --> 00:20:56.462
<v Charlotte Staerck>I mean, the volumes that come through to us now are.

00:20:56.462 --> 00:20:58.750
<v Charlotte Staerck>You know I don't see everything that comes through every day.

00:20:58.750 --> 00:21:07.430
<v Charlotte Staerck>We have a team of buyers that I've personally trained and, however, when I do kind of browse the website, you know we are seeing a rise.

00:21:07.430 --> 00:21:08.756
<v Charlotte Staerck>I mean, we have the classics.

00:21:08.756 --> 00:21:13.858
<v Charlotte Staerck>It's always going to be the classics, it's going to be your classic Chanel's, it's going to be your classic Louis Vuitton models.

00:21:13.858 --> 00:21:21.739
<v Charlotte Staerck>You know you never fall, you speedies, but these are bags that are made to be timeless and I think it's great that we see them pass through the pre-owned market.

00:21:22.369 --> 00:21:25.820
<v Charlotte Staerck>The bags that I look at and I go how long are you going to last?

00:21:25.820 --> 00:21:28.957
<v Charlotte Staerck>Are things like the Bottega Jody bag.

00:21:28.957 --> 00:21:31.343
<v Charlotte Staerck>You know that tiny, small, with the knot.

00:21:31.343 --> 00:21:43.721
<v Charlotte Staerck>I feel like we at one point we would put those on the website and they would fly out in minutes, and now you see them hanging around a little bit longer because they're just not the most practical bag and they are a high price point.

00:21:43.721 --> 00:21:57.018
<v Charlotte Staerck>We've definitely seen a shift in, obviously, the Hermès market In 2016, we would have a Kelly for weeks before it would sell and you'd get a Birken 35 and it would leave the next day.

00:21:57.018 --> 00:22:02.934
<v Charlotte Staerck>Now those rolls have totally reversed with the trend of going from larger bags to smaller bags.

00:22:02.934 --> 00:22:13.303
<v Charlotte Staerck>You know, you see that trickle through into our market and sometimes it really hits with the bang that the Kelly switch from a larger size to a smaller size just was overnight.

00:22:13.303 --> 00:22:13.987
<v Charlotte Staerck>It's not wild.

00:22:13.987 --> 00:22:15.955
<v Charlotte Staerck>Yeah, it was really fast.

00:22:15.955 --> 00:22:17.855
<v Charlotte Staerck>It was really really fast with that brand.

00:22:18.789 --> 00:22:21.375
<v Emily Blumenthal>Within new designers creeping in?

00:22:21.375 --> 00:22:36.157
<v Emily Blumenthal>Are you seeing any new talent of brands beyond Jack-O-Mess and so forth of, like independent designers or designers that you're like, hey, here's some that you should look out for because they've come to your clinic that people are starting to want to get their hands on?

00:22:37.352 --> 00:22:39.940
<v Charlotte Staerck>No, not hugely, not more independent things.

00:22:39.940 --> 00:22:47.619
<v Charlotte Staerck>We do see smaller brands come through and we do see trends move through those smaller brands through our clinic, even if we don't kind of buy and sell them.

00:22:47.619 --> 00:22:50.078
<v Charlotte Staerck>But there's none that are really jumping out to me.

00:22:50.078 --> 00:22:56.132
<v Charlotte Staerck>We did have the JW Anderson trend a few years ago and that definitely has sort of dropped off.

00:22:56.132 --> 00:23:06.190
<v Charlotte Staerck>Now it's more this resurgent of yellow webbays and I think Mu Mu we now Mu Mu is quite an even-out-one brand of the air.

00:23:06.190 --> 00:23:14.597
<v Charlotte Staerck>Last year not really made it into the bags yet they're one if bag away from being huge again and it'll be really interesting to see when that changes.

00:23:15.170 --> 00:23:21.823
<v Emily Blumenthal>That's so interesting in terms of Mu Mu and obviously Mu Mu is tied to Proud of it.

00:23:21.823 --> 00:23:23.631
<v Emily Blumenthal>Yeah, exactly so.

00:23:23.631 --> 00:23:25.237
<v Emily Blumenthal>A lot of people don't even know that.

00:23:25.237 --> 00:23:38.578
<v Emily Blumenthal>So when they speak about that, in recognizing one versus the other and realizing that the trends of one, how the brand is so totally designed, is like almost night and day that you wouldn't even know that they were related.

00:23:38.578 --> 00:23:40.041
<v Emily Blumenthal>Yeah, it is.

00:23:40.190 --> 00:23:44.634
<v Charlotte Staerck>People never, ever have that thing so.

00:23:45.335 --> 00:23:52.859
<v Emily Blumenthal>I just want to talk a little bit about the evolution of trends post-COVID that you've seen in terms of bags that you've seen coming in.

00:23:52.859 --> 00:23:57.881
<v Emily Blumenthal>I know novelty within the past couple years has really seen an uptick.

00:23:57.881 --> 00:24:01.778
<v Emily Blumenthal>As you said, smaller bags, obviously the jocamus bag.

00:24:01.778 --> 00:24:07.773
<v Emily Blumenthal>That holds nothing but it's still the bag that if you want to be seen carrying it's definitely a talking piece.

00:24:07.773 --> 00:24:16.380
<v Emily Blumenthal>Can you talk a little bit about trends of bags that you've seen in terms of sizes or silhouettes that you think are on their way out or on their way in?

00:24:16.380 --> 00:24:19.857
<v Emily Blumenthal>Just based on what you see from the website coming through the clinic?

00:24:19.857 --> 00:24:21.240
<v Emily Blumenthal>Yeah, definitely.

00:24:21.529 --> 00:24:40.622
<v Charlotte Staerck>So obviously we had a huge boom of 19 themes coming through with the Prada Nylons, the small Pesheths, the Gucci Boat Pesheths and Dior Pesheths and obviously the Louis Pesheths as well, and I think people have kind of realized that they're not the most practical bag.

00:24:40.622 --> 00:24:50.378
<v Charlotte Staerck>So what I think we'll have is an elevation of that Pesheth, so shoulder bag that fits a little bit more in, that is almost crescent moon and shade is going to really rise.

00:24:50.378 --> 00:24:57.151
<v Charlotte Staerck>And then we're also definitely seeing a trend move towards which is a little bit Obviously.

00:24:57.151 --> 00:25:22.104
<v Charlotte Staerck>We've had quite luxury which was, yeah, let's not scream about brands, let's not be covered in logos, but I think people miss that element of glamour and I think that that's going to come back in with kind of studs and chains and this really impactful kind of detailing on bags Like the Alexander Wang bag from 2014, 15, the one that had the studs all at the bottom.

00:25:22.730 --> 00:25:29.038
<v Charlotte Staerck>Yeah, the Rocco and the Deagle, yeah, yeah, yeah, those types of bags we may see come through.

00:25:29.038 --> 00:25:36.838
<v Charlotte Staerck>I think you know we're seeing it already with the Lowewe chain bag that they have Looks though anything with that.

00:25:36.838 --> 00:25:51.338
<v Charlotte Staerck>I think you'll see a rise, which will do really well for some of the old modern Gucci pieces, because they tended to go for those really big, chunky metalworks and the Sachi and brands like that that tended to go for that chunkier look.

00:25:51.338 --> 00:26:01.842
<v Charlotte Staerck>I think that we'll definitely see a rise in those and anything as a crescent moon shape, a Jackie's probably a little too square, but a kind of condensed version of that.

00:26:02.309 --> 00:26:16.163
<v Emily Blumenthal>It's so funny because I contributed to you an article, couple articles recently for Women's Wear, for two different actually one of the writers is out of the UK and I was saying the exact same thing to the T.

00:26:16.163 --> 00:26:24.065
<v Emily Blumenthal>So it makes me feel good that at least I'm on trend as per what you're saying, because obviously you deal with this more on a day to day than I do because I'm.

00:26:24.065 --> 00:26:27.585
<v Emily Blumenthal>I'm in it but peripheral, I'm not going in seafield touching.

00:26:27.585 --> 00:26:35.174
<v Emily Blumenthal>Is it interesting for your craftsmen to deal with materials that aren't leather, like the nylon bags, the coated nylon?

00:26:35.174 --> 00:26:41.805
<v Emily Blumenthal>I mean, was that something that obviously crafts person is a crafts person, but was that something that needed to be added on?

00:26:42.875 --> 00:26:47.760
<v Charlotte Staerck>No, we've always seen a huge range of you know everything come from our clinic.

00:26:47.760 --> 00:27:04.803
<v Charlotte Staerck>We've worked on everything from unbranded bags to the most expensive emers, birkin crocodile skins to I don't know backgammon sets and boxing gloves and like it's so fast what we've done, right, but we are restricted on your suede and your fabrics.

00:27:04.803 --> 00:27:07.199
<v Charlotte Staerck>With leather, we can create magic.

00:27:07.199 --> 00:27:08.682
<v Charlotte Staerck>We can change its color.

00:27:08.682 --> 00:27:10.257
<v Charlotte Staerck>We can remove a stain.

00:27:10.257 --> 00:27:11.801
<v Charlotte Staerck>We can definitely.

00:27:11.801 --> 00:27:13.788
<v Charlotte Staerck>In COVID it's really bad actually.

00:27:13.788 --> 00:27:18.824
<v Charlotte Staerck>We saw a lot of dogs chewing bags and even in the people got a lot of dogs.

00:27:18.824 --> 00:27:20.880
<v Charlotte Staerck>Yeah, people got a lot of dogs.

00:27:20.880 --> 00:27:28.945
<v Charlotte Staerck>But also we saw where arguments escalated and handbags became the victim and there was knives put through handbags and all sorts of crazy things.

00:27:29.394 --> 00:27:33.690
<v Charlotte Staerck>That's amazing, but with those we can fix it.

00:27:33.690 --> 00:27:48.295
<v Charlotte Staerck>But if it is fabric and if it is suede, you are going to struggle and they are the bags that you have to protect and you have to clean regularly and be careful why you use them, because if they go they're way harder to save than sometimes impossible to save.

00:27:50.442 --> 00:27:52.732
<v Emily Blumenthal>Suede is the devil's work of material.

00:27:52.732 --> 00:27:54.361
<v Emily Blumenthal>I always say like run, run, run.

00:27:54.361 --> 00:27:56.673
<v Emily Blumenthal>I mean the first collection I did had a small.

00:27:56.673 --> 00:28:04.334
<v Emily Blumenthal>I did a handful of them in suede and they were beige and left the record stand that never do a beige suede bag ever.

00:28:04.334 --> 00:28:14.877
<v Emily Blumenthal>Because by the time it gets to the store to resell your bag, one stain on it or from one person touching it you're going to get the charge back as the designer saying sorry, this is unsellable.

00:28:14.877 --> 00:28:17.666
<v Emily Blumenthal>So I say run for the hills with that one.

00:28:17.666 --> 00:28:24.720
<v Emily Blumenthal>Yeah, it is a shame because it's beautiful but it's so lovely, but like you're going to have to walk around with it like that, not to touch it.

00:28:25.162 --> 00:28:41.444
<v Emily Blumenthal>One final question, in terms of, you know, obviously, being an expert within this market, how do you deal with reselling bags at a retail price point when they go up and down in terms of demand?

00:28:41.444 --> 00:28:46.832
<v Emily Blumenthal>So how do you deal with that, saying okay, there's less of this, more people want it.

00:28:46.832 --> 00:28:53.092
<v Emily Blumenthal>I know I can jack up the price Now there's so many of them were lowing the price purely out of the supply and demand.

00:28:53.092 --> 00:28:54.176
<v Emily Blumenthal>How do you deal with that?

00:28:54.798 --> 00:29:15.388
<v Charlotte Staerck>So, we created bespoke software back in 2019, which tracks the sort of how long a bag will sit on our website versus the general market, whether the RRP increases as well, because obviously, when an RRP you know Chanel increased their prices, that will, and what does that mean?

00:29:15.388 --> 00:29:28.339
<v Charlotte Staerck>Just in case, the retail price basically, so what Gucci, chanel, louis Vuitton will sell their bags, that they will increase that and sort of anywhere from one to three times a year, and our software actually looks at that.

00:29:28.339 --> 00:29:36.001
<v Charlotte Staerck>So it will flag to our buyers, who also are trend focused, trend spotting, always looking ahead, and it will flag to them.

00:29:36.001 --> 00:29:40.807
<v Charlotte Staerck>You know we are seeing a real increase in demand and it's all based on supply and demand.

00:29:40.807 --> 00:29:48.443
<v Charlotte Staerck>Right, we go for a sort of trend, a data lead point, with that human overlay, looking from a trend point of view.

00:29:48.585 --> 00:30:11.577
<v Charlotte Staerck>So, saying you know, I mean there's one that will always bite me, which is the Dior saddlebag, because we didn't have the software or anything then and there was just kind of me buying handbags and we couldn't sell a Dior saddlebag for any theorist, I bet, yeah, it took so long and we used to buy them for 150 pounds, max, max, max, 150 pounds.

00:30:11.577 --> 00:30:13.852
<v Charlotte Staerck>And then, once they were in that runway show.

00:30:13.852 --> 00:30:23.780
<v Charlotte Staerck>They went up overnight and to over 1000 pounds, and I just wish I'd scoop them all up at that point in time, but it's always one that will bite me.

00:30:23.780 --> 00:30:38.480
<v Charlotte Staerck>But yeah, we do it very data led, we have very smart systems and we're actually working with a local university to create AI software that will allow us to improve that as well, because what we really want to do is we want to create a fair price for the pre-owned market.

00:30:39.020 --> 00:30:45.911
<v Charlotte Staerck>So it isn't just what somebody on you know is selling their bag for on a marketplace or isn't what one brand picks.

00:30:45.911 --> 00:30:58.674
<v Charlotte Staerck>This is looking at the overall market and sell through rates and clear demand from these people and making sure that we get a fair price for our pre-owned items, because, you see, I mean some of them just it's outrageous.

00:30:58.674 --> 00:31:00.259
<v Charlotte Staerck>It's outrageous.

00:31:00.259 --> 00:31:09.464
<v Charlotte Staerck>Yeah, I've seen Chanel bags for 21,000 pounds on some of these sites and I'm like come on, like yeah, it's just not possible.

00:31:09.464 --> 00:31:17.932
<v Charlotte Staerck>So that's really at my mission, because I'm somebody who loves bags and I would never have had access to this level of bags without the pre-owned market.

00:31:17.932 --> 00:31:21.422
<v Charlotte Staerck>Yep, so I want to make sure that it's fair and transparent for everybody.

00:31:21.970 --> 00:31:30.990
<v Emily Blumenthal>Yeah, no, I think that's amazing, especially since COVID there was a obviously a dip in demand, right?

00:31:30.990 --> 00:31:33.214
<v Emily Blumenthal>Nobody wanted to buy bags as much.

00:31:33.214 --> 00:31:41.204
<v Emily Blumenthal>And then the uptick of the pre-owned market just started to come up right where people are like why should I buy a new one?

00:31:41.204 --> 00:31:42.269
<v Emily Blumenthal>I could buy an old one.

00:31:42.269 --> 00:31:46.263
<v Emily Blumenthal>So I'm sure if you were like this is an odd spike, considering no one's going out.

00:31:46.885 --> 00:32:07.746
<v Emily Blumenthal>And then to have this issue with cargo and ships and so forth, with the clog of the boats, of them getting to the ports, which led to the backlog in supply, and then people were getting bags in and products that were like two seasons old because it was delayed, and then to have the material prices go up.

00:32:07.746 --> 00:32:13.000
<v Emily Blumenthal>So a Chanel bag that was 3,000 is now like 15,000 or something.

00:32:13.000 --> 00:32:21.951
<v Emily Blumenthal>It's a lot of work on your end to keep up with in terms of like, okay, well, what are we charging it today, considering they're now charging the retail three times higher?

00:32:21.951 --> 00:32:32.021
<v Emily Blumenthal>So that obviously I mean you are so ahead of the curve to have the capacity to be, like you know, the one to watch in terms of what pricing for these items really should be.

00:32:32.021 --> 00:32:33.251
<v Emily Blumenthal>That's amazing.

00:32:34.032 --> 00:32:45.476
<v Charlotte Staerck>Yeah, we is say, when we created the software it was very basic, but it's definitely relaunched it again this year with the new version and we are looking for all you know improvements and we also want it super easy.

00:32:45.476 --> 00:32:50.712
<v Charlotte Staerck>We don't want customers to have to upload a lot of photos and tell us a lot of information.

00:32:50.712 --> 00:32:57.194
<v Charlotte Staerck>You know it all works super quick, super fast and that's you know what we want the difference to be really into.

00:32:57.194 --> 00:33:04.682
<v Charlotte Staerck>Set a precedent for the pre-owned market that if you're going to use a reseller, it should be so easy, so quick and a fair price.

00:33:05.670 --> 00:33:06.654
<v Emily Blumenthal>Was this your idea?

00:33:06.654 --> 00:33:08.383
<v Emily Blumenthal>Were you like sitting with your husband?

00:33:08.383 --> 00:33:09.890
<v Emily Blumenthal>You're like we need a software.

00:33:09.890 --> 00:33:12.298
<v Emily Blumenthal>I can't do this anymore, or this is ridiculous.

00:33:13.001 --> 00:33:25.599
<v Charlotte Staerck>Yeah, because I was just surrounded by paper and the demand was creeping up and at this point there was me and I'd employed one other buyer to work me and I'd start training them and the demand was just getting out of control?

00:33:25.619 --> 00:33:32.055
<v Emily Blumenthal>Were you just like going through stacks, like, well, what was that sold and do you have it on that spreadsheet and what did we charge it for the last time?

00:33:32.055 --> 00:33:34.202
<v Emily Blumenthal>And just like I can't do this anymore.

00:33:34.703 --> 00:33:37.037
<v Charlotte Staerck>Yeah, exactly, yeah, that was exactly it.

00:33:37.037 --> 00:33:37.917
<v Charlotte Staerck>Look at you.

00:33:38.065 --> 00:33:40.114
<v Emily Blumenthal>Charlotte, this has been enlightening.

00:33:40.114 --> 00:33:42.289
<v Emily Blumenthal>I'm so happy we connected.

00:33:42.289 --> 00:33:47.704
<v Emily Blumenthal>Thank you for entertaining my LinkedIn messages saying we need to chat.

00:33:47.704 --> 00:33:49.048
<v Emily Blumenthal>This is going to be amazing.

00:33:49.048 --> 00:33:51.258
<v Emily Blumenthal>Our audience is going to go bananas over this.

00:33:51.258 --> 00:34:00.569
<v Emily Blumenthal>How can and I'm assuming you deal with the international market because you will so much more after this how can one learn about the handbag clinic?

00:34:00.569 --> 00:34:05.644
<v Emily Blumenthal>Sell their pre-owned bag, buy a pre-owned bag, get their bag fixed?

00:34:05.644 --> 00:34:06.827
<v Emily Blumenthal>How does all that work?

00:34:06.827 --> 00:34:07.470
<v Emily Blumenthal>Tell us, please.

00:34:08.853 --> 00:34:12.061
<v Charlotte Staerck>So we are at handbagcliniccouk.

00:34:12.061 --> 00:34:18.858
<v Charlotte Staerck>We also are on all social media YouTube, instagram, tiktok which is the handbag clinic.

00:34:18.858 --> 00:34:21.827
<v Charlotte Staerck>Look for the pink round logo and that is us.

00:34:22.588 --> 00:34:24.155
<v Emily Blumenthal>Fabulous Charlotte.

00:34:24.155 --> 00:34:26.806
<v Emily Blumenthal>I can't wait, definitely going to be in touch.

00:34:26.806 --> 00:34:35.237
<v Emily Blumenthal>I'm going to make sure everybody sends their bags to you, because obviously that's where they should go with your fast authentication and fair pricing.

00:34:35.237 --> 00:34:38.650
<v Emily Blumenthal>Thank you so very much for being part of the handbag designer 101 podcast.

00:34:38.650 --> 00:34:40.356
<v Emily Blumenthal>Thank you, fabmy.

00:34:40.356 --> 00:34:42.021
<v Emily Blumenthal>Thanks for listening.

00:34:42.021 --> 00:34:47.373
<v Emily Blumenthal>Don't forget to rate and review and follow us on every single platform at handbag designer.

00:34:47.373 --> 00:34:48.273
<v Emily Blumenthal>Thanks so much.

00:34:48.273 --> 00:34:49.275
<v Emily Blumenthal>See you next time.