Back In 2015, before supermodel, entrepreneur and philanthropist Toni Garrn opened her namesake foundation, which strives to help young girls access education in Sub-Saharian Africa, she was involved with other charitable organizations in Africa and was left pondering: how can I raise money for these causes? In a day and age when securing capital for charity can range from your run-of-the-mill fundraiser to more creative tactics such as tombolas or concerts, Garrn successfully sought out the most obvious answer to her needs. What better way for a supermodel than to find a sartorial solution to raising money? “I remembered that I had a friend who had just done a flea market down in a basement in Brooklyn, selling clothes from her personal closet and involving other models in selling theirs alongside her. So I just replicated the idea, and started contacting some people for my initiative to do the same. Soon enough, it became a big deal.”
And so Toni Garrn’s “Supermodel Flea Markets” were born. They started off as yearly enterprises, taking the shape of international pop-ups in megacities worldwide such as New York and Berlin. All proceeds of the sales of each piece of clothing would then go to the Toni Garrn Foundation, inaugurated by the model back in 2016 and operating to help underprivileged women in Africa access education. The now-major event is one of the Foundation’s main fundraising operations.
When asked about what drove her to fighting for causes in rural Africa, Garrn admits it’s something unexplainable. “I’m not exactly sure why, but I think perhaps in my previous life, I may be from there. If I wasn’t a model, I’d either be backpacking through Africa or living there. I have such a close connection to the people there, their culture, as well as the continent itself. When I saw the numbers regarding poverty and lack of education in African countries – those that I cherish the most – and how much a little help could go a long way, for me it was a no brainer.”
As for the choice of the name, it was evident. “Christy Turlington, Gisèle Bundchen, Naomi Campbell, Karlie Kloss… These supermodels are, to name only a few, of those who gave me so many incredible clothes for the first flea markets.” It was only befitting, therefore, to pay them tribute with the name “Supermodel Flea Market”.
The 31-year old, German-born model then faced a new challenge, which was what to do with the unsold pieces that were worth more than just their monetary value? The problematic helped cement what the Supermodel Flea Market is today. “After every flea market, my team would get back to me and announce that out of the 1000 pieces that had been available to purchase, there were only about 15 left overall. I would’ve usually then sold those leftover pieces to other well-known second hand organizations, but then, who would know who they’d belonged to? Who’d actually worn them? It could be a dress that Naomi Campbell wore to a red carpet event, or a handbag that Karl Lagerfeld himself had gifted me, but then, who would ever know?”
That’s when Garrn decided to launch her Super Flea Market, not as a once-a-year adventure but as a year-round, online reselling platform of luxury and premium clothing. All of which will have been pre-owned by celebrities and top-notch influencers, and available to purchase worldwide. Accessories, such as bags and shoes, will also be included on the site, but there will be no fast fashion items or labels. And to satisfy the needs of all fashion lovers, the Super Flea Market will be catering to all genders and sizes. “That’s why I dropped the ‘model’ out of Supermodel Flea Market. No more supermodel-only sizes!”, she teases. Most of the overall proceeds will be granted directly to Garrn’s Foundation as well as other partnering social organizations, such as the NGO “All Hands and Hearts”, which supports communities in crisis regions during reconstruction, as well as “Re:wild”, dedicated to the protection and restoration of biodiversity in the fight against climate change. The rest of the profits will go into maintaining the site and supplying its workforce.
As for pricing? “We’re going to have a better idea of pricing as we go, but we’ll be going by standard secondhand pricing for each designer. Yet, given that the clothes will be coming from celebrities, they will have an added premium. But in the meantime, we’re just going with the flow and seeing what works!”
The ingenuity behind Garrn’s flea market and what differentiates it from any other eco-friendly fashion initiative is that she is selling a rarefied experience – not just a product. By capitalizing on the strong bond between a celebrity and a fan and feeding into the mindset of collectors, she is seeking to attract a client base of conscious buyers, in search of a piece of memorabilia and not just something to wear. Garrn also mentions that there will be an implementation of auctions of “five or ten incredible pieces from the biggest names” as well as ongoing drops.
But when mentioning celebrities, who exactly are we talking about? “I already have 5 to 10 big names that are involved in the project, but I’m not at liberty to disclose them yet because I’m awaiting their legal teams’ final ok’s. I can give you a clue, though: some of them are currently performing on stage on the last couple of years’ biggest World Tours.” Another question then arises: how to prove that a particular piece of clothing genuinely belonged to an A-lister? “The best proof of a piece’s authenticity is always the personal delivery of the piece. And that’s what’s happening right now: most of the pieces are being personally handed over to me or someone else from Super Flea Market by stylists or even our donors themselves. We get assurances from all of them that the items in question are the originals. For our customers, we also include a certificate upon reception of their package, which additionally confirms its authenticity.”
As for logistics, the Super Flea Market is set on making things as smooth and easy for everybody involved. “As of now, we have a location in New York City’s as well as Berlin where interested parties can drop off their clothes for handling. We also have a team of messengers devoted to picking up the clothes from celebrities, as they are busy and don’t want to go through the hassle. We want to facilitate every move for our donators as to maximize potential donations of clothes.” As for the platform itself, it is in the works to launch as both a website and a mobile phone app. “I want it to be a beautiful shopping experience that is very simple to navigate and comparable to other big websites on which you shop your favorite designer handbag. Yet I also want buyers to know what they’re contributing to when making a purchase. It’d be great to have a split screen with a blog that shows what schools have been able to be built thanks to each donation, for instance.”
When we inquired about whether or not the Super Flea Market is to remain an online opportunity, Garrn explains: “It is important for me to keep doing popups, to see the buyers and get their feedback and share their excitement face to face. Clothes, to me, should be about emotion, and it’s so great to actually the see the positive reaction of a client making a purchase and finally getting a particular item they’d been dreaming about. So yes, we’re striving to do at least one popup event a year, somewhere different each time.” Already, Garrn promoted the upcoming initiative with an exclusive soirée during Art Basel, Miami’s contemporary art fair, which took place early December of this year.
If the website’s unveiling is due early Spring of 2024, Garrn knows to take her time to render the best version of her project. “I know how much work goes into certain things. I remember being a new face in the industry at age 15 and working for Calvin Klein. The team was pinning needles in my dress and creating the finished product as I modeled it. For hours, they stood around me, analyzing each little detail that needed adjustments. So I know how much love and thought goes into fashion.” And just as any experimented collector knows, all good things are worth the wait. Especially if it’s your favorite singer’s signed tour tee.
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