S8 Ep10 HANDBAG CLINIC: circular business buying, selling, authenticating, and restoring luxury handbags - from flipping bags as a teen, to fixing Claudia Schiffer’s vintage Chanel.

Pre-Loved Podcast is a weekly vintage fashion interview show, with guests you’ll want to go thrifting with! For more Pre-Loved Podcast, subscribe to our Patreon!

On today’s show, we’re chatting with Charlotte, the founder of leading luxury aftercare and pre-loved retailer, The Handbag Clinic.

The Handbag Clinic is a fully-circular platform tackling end-of-life issues from pre-loved buying, selling, and authenticating, to restoration. The story of how Charlotte got started flipping handbags on eBay when she was just sixteen years old is really fascinating, and she has so much expertise on restoration, as one of the leading and longest lasting services in the luxury resale space.

Tune in for all her incredible stories from 10 years of The Handbag Clinic, everything from working on Claudia Schiffer’s vintage pieces, to restoring Birkin bags that got nibbled on by a puppy!

 — we chat about all this and more on today’s show, so dive right into it! 

DISCUSSED IN THE EPISODE:

• [2:39] How Charlotte got into secondhand fashion as a way to access designer brands – for a deal! – as a teenager. 
• [8:18] How Handbag Clinic started out of Charlotte’s love for flipping bags. 
• [11:35] Both restoration and reselling are at the heart of the Handbag Clinic. 
• [15:22] On becoming an expert in the authentication of luxury and designer goods. 
• [18:53] The rise of “superfakes” in the luxury handbag market. 
• [21:38] How the luxury resale and aftercare services space has changed in the 10+ years of Handbag Clinic. 
• [27:48] Some of the leather restoration specialty techniques and innovations of the Handbag Clinic team.
• [35:15] Some of the most extreme repairs the Handbag Clinic team has tackled.
• [41:03] The rarest and most special bags that have come through the Handbag Clinic. 

EPISODE MENTIONS: 

• The Handbag Clinic
• @thehandbagclinic
• The Mulberry Bayswater
• The RealReal on Pre-Loved Podcast
• Rebag
• The Claudia Schiffer vintage Chanel vanity cases

LET’S CONNECT: 

• 📸Instagram: @emilymstochl
• 🐦Twitter: @emilymstochl
• 🎥TikTok: @emilymstochl
• 📧 Substack: https://prelovedpod.substack.com/ 
• 🎧Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/prelovedpod 

SPECIAL THANKS: 

A special thanks goes out to my Patron Insiders – your support makes Pre-Loved Podcast possible!

• Patty Weber
• Beverley Docherty of Wolfe Pack Vintage
• Danny of Galaxy Live
• Kathy Brand
• Lucero Buendia
• Tricia Zelazny
• Leslie V.
• Lisa of Queenie & Pearl
• Lucille of Galipette Vintage
• KT 
• Lydia Welp
• Anastacia Banicke of Goods & Provisions
• Michael A.
• Megan Morris