What Goes Around Comes Around luxury vintage celebrates 30th anniversary

What does it mean for something to be considered ‘vintage’? According to What Goes Around Comes Around co-founders Seth Weisser and Gerard Maione, it all depends on the decade and time passed. The duo, who launched the beloved luxury vintage store in Soho 30 years ago, spoke to FashionNetwork.com at a party celebrating the milestone about how the standard-setting reseller is forging a path for the next 30 years.

With three retail locations, two in Soho and one in Beverly Hills, What Goes Around Comes Around, or WGACA, reserves its top-of-the-line inventory for its stores and websites.

Case in point, today the brand launched a curated 49-piece capsule collection of André Leon Talley’s belongings to include Louis Vuitton trunks with his ALT monogram designed and gifted by Marc Jacobs, a plethora of original Gianni Versace clothing and seemingly out of character for Talley, but spot on for WGACA, a selection of Chrome Hearts leather pieces at its Beverly Hills location and on the WGACA website. The pair secured pieces through the Christie’s auction last February and dealt directly with Talley’s estate to procure additional lots from the late editor’s collection.
 
It’s the kind of score that makes for good content, too. This past summer, WGACA launched a live-shopping content platform. Weisser and Malone turned their Wooster Street store’s lower level into a proper video studio, investing at least six figures, the latter according to a company source. They tapped former Sotheby’s and Christie’s leather goods expert Mason Howell as its primary host for the daily live stream events.

“We built a high-level studio to create programming to educate consumers about the products in an elevated way to respect the product,” said Weisser, adding that they plan to supplement Howell’s work with guest influencers and other tastemakers to host and will launch with TikTok’s live shop soon.
 
The pandemic forced a tough decision to close three locations of WGACA but also shifted the brand’s perspective to making its highly curated vintage goods available across the US. “The interest is out there; everywhere in the country, people want and demand to buy luxury vintage. Brands aren’t making it as accessible as the consumers live it. We make it possible to buy it through our global partners who source the best pieces for us,” said Maione.
 
Wholesale clients include Kith, Goop, Shopbop, Epcot Center, various cruise ships, Dillard’s, and Amazon. The E-comm giant partnership was five years in the making, and Weisser admits they were initially hesitant. Though as the only luxury reseller on the platform, it’s been a boon to business. “We offer design houses that aren’t represented on Amazon; every person in the country shops there,” said Maione.

According to Weisser, WGACA started as a ‘vintage heritage’ retailer when the two Syracuse University friends gained a reputation for their vintage style combined with a business sense and Maione’s experience working luxury retail at Ralph Lauren. It’s now a luxury resale brand. Unlike competitors such as The RealReal and Vestiaire, WGACA owns its inventory, differentiating it from those platforms, but it goes beyond that.
 
“A sector formed around us, and we were leading it. Vintage was something we helped introduce and educate people on along the way. We introduced luxury twenty years ago,” said Weisser, noting designer brands such as Courrèges, Pucci, Rabanne, clothing from the 1950s to the 1970s, and heritage items such as Levi’s and Harley Davidson leather jackets were the core products when they launched in 1993, opening on West Broadway. Ten years later, they added luxury leather goods a decade in.

“We focus on trends and adjust to the fashion consumer to see where things are evolving. When the brand launched in 1993, eighties fashion wasn’t in demand, but now, forty years on, there is so much product to dig into from that era. We pull from that pool up to current collections,” said Weisser, citing a recent Louis Vuitton Yayoi Kusama bag they might purchase now for its future value or supplying demand when sold out elsewhere.

He also noted the abundance of specific styles allows for scale in the vintage business, such as the Chanel classic bag. As for price comparisons, at WGACA, these bags generally run $6K to $7.5K as opposed to Chanel’s current retail price of $9K to $10K. Alternatively, a Dillard’s customer can snag Louis Vuitton Speedy styles in abundance for around $1K, while rare, pristine condition cherry monogram or Stephen Sprouse Speedy styles would be offered exclusively at WGACA channels, generally upwards of $3K.
 
The duo has no qualms about the future demand for luxury resale and their proven track record of quality-condition second-hand goods.

“The younger generation has a desire for vintage and leans into sustainability. That segment will continue to populate and participate in a more significant way. The long view is it’s only going to get bigger,” said Weisser, adding, “We always source our products with the best of class partners in the industry, so whatever has happened with the competitors that have entered behind us, we want to keep our distance about what separates us from them. Why buy from us instead of them? We are a sure thing; it’s authentic and in good condition.”