Waller also analyses requests to determine demand for certain brands and styles, so she can make sure she’s ready. Currently, Miu Miu is spiking, led by the Miu Miu x New Balance collaboration sneakers, she says.
“A lot of clients do request the same items, because I work with high-trending styles,” says Waller. “I can find one bag easily, but when I need like 20 Margaux bags from The Row, that’s when the real challenge begins.”
As the fashion sourcing market matures, founders are trying to educate consumers, brands and retailers as to how it works. “People still have a lot of questions, so educating the industry and the consumer is important this year,” Waller says.
“There’s a trust factor involved in what we do. You have to learn how to speak to clients in a different way because you’re not just showing a client a physical product,” says Solomon Pastor.
Some luxury retailers appreciate the potential of partnering with fashion sourcers themselves. Middle Eastern retail group Chalhoub Group has acquired a majority stake in personal shopping and fashion sourcing platform Threads Styling, while Pastor & Co previously sourced for Farfetch’s personal shopping team and is imminently signing a deal with Dubai-based retailer Ounass to white label its services for the retailer’s top-spending clients.
Looking ahead, we can expect retailers to up the ante by servicing top-end customers with the round-the-clock, global service these businesses can provide. “I expect to see more brands engaging with the luxury fashion sourcers,” says Bain’s Levato. And brands won’t get in their way. “They aren’t in competition because [ultimately] the sourcers buy the brands.”
In the future, Pastor & Co can see sourcers plugging in to luxury hospitality and partnering with top hotels, again circumventing the store. “A lot of our clients go to stay at the same chain of hotels, whether it’s the St Regis or Atlantis Royal in Dubai,” Levi Pastor says. “They might want their favourite candle when they arrive, it might be their son’s birthday and they need a gift, or they saw some sneakers they want to wear when they arrive. It’s the little details that matter. And that’s why what we do is the future for the ultra-high net worth.”
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