Vestiaire Collective puts Lauren Picciano in charge of global communications

Second-hand fashion and luxury e-tailer Vestiaire Collective has announced the appointment of Lauren Picciano to the role of head of global communications. She will be based in New York, where Vestiaire Collective’s CEO Maximilian Bittner has recently moved, after overseeing the company from Paris for five years.

Picciano reports to Marie-Christin Oebel, Vestiaire Collective’s global head of marketing, and her mission will be to supervise the staff working in brand communication strategy and in media and corporate relations, as well as boosting the website’s appeal with consumers.

Picciano is an experienced executive who worked in the past at Saks and Bergdorf Goodman. Her career then led her to join successively Adidas, Sixty, Highline United, La Perla and Hearst Magazines (the publisher of Elle, Cosmopolitan and Harper’s Bazaar.)

“We are thrilled to have Lauren Picciano join Vestiaire Collective, bringing her extensive knowledge and experience in the luxury fashion market to our leadership team,” said Oebel. “Picciano’s appointment is critical in expanding Vestiaire Collective’s brand awareness and impact in North America, but also around the globe,” she added.

Vestiaire Collective was set up in 2009, and currently has offices in London, Berlin, New York, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City and Hong Kong, as well as warehouses in Tourcoing (France), Crowley (UK), Hong Kong and New York.

A month ago, Bittner announced he was relocating to New York, a move that is set to “put US consumers at the core of the company’s interests.” Vestiaire Collective is now valued in excess of €1 billion.

The company is present in 80 countries, and in early 2022 it bought US e-tailer Tradesy, following two sizeable funding rounds carried out in 2021. In the first, in February, French luxury giant Kering acquired a stake in Vestiaire Collective, while the second round, in September, enabled the company to raise €178 million.