New students of the bag (and accessories) trade at Fashionphile enroll in Fashionphile University – the training program for new employees. But soon, everyone can have access to authentication knowledge for Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and more.
With the competition between reseller platforms tightening, founder and president of Fashionphile, Sarah Davis, believes information on authentication should be available to everyone. And Fashionphile was a pioneer in this practice.
“We’ve spent decades learning authentication, by studying and compiling information. We didn’t invent authentication — the brands technically came up with the features we are using,” said Davis to WWD. “But we centralized a systematic approach to the authentication of all brands and items,” reiterated Davis.
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The concept was born out of Davis’ early days selling on EBay up until 2007, whereby she posted free authentication information including detailed photos and tips using EBay Guides as the platform. Selling guides (now a discontinued service) are meant to inform the shopper.
Fashionphile’s current knowledge base includes everything from vintage luxury trunks to the most current celebrity collaboration pieces housed under one roof in Fashionphile’s library of 100 to 150 binders. The binders will be digitized to provide educational resources on authentication of Fashionphile’s 51 different luxury brands in an app.
The user-friendly app will be largely free to use, with some paid aspects of it that are licensed out to “larger or more enterprise users,” according to Davis.
“Many brands and retailers have a difficult time authenticating their own returns. It’s a science and an art that requires not just knowledge of current construction and styles – but every piece the brand has ever made,” said Davis.
Fashionphile aims to have the first brand guide out on the app within 6 months, adding more as quickly as the team is able to — while making app updates in real time.