The new vintage
The total demand for vintage on The RealReal (TRR), which it classifies as pieces 15-plus years old, has surged 432% from 2020 to 2026, according to the report.
Most notably this year, though, is the shift in demand from ’90s pieces to those from the early aughts. Searches for the former were up 63% year-on-year, while searches for the latter increased 93%. Meanwhile, searches for specific designers known for leading major labels during the 2000s are also on the rise: “Phoebe Philo Celine” is up 650%, “Nicolas Ghesquière Balenciaga” is up 400%, and “Marc Jacobs Louis Vuitton” is up 375%.
The uptick in interest in 2000s-era clothes signals a new phase for resale, one where items from brands like 1996-founded Acne Studios can reach vintage status, now rendering them more of a cult item than a couple of years prior. “There are these cusp-y things that are happening, like 2000s Acne and Rodarte,” Naiman says. This also means prices are likely to tick up in the coming years.
Emerging brands
Emerging brands are growing fast on TRR, and in 2026, demand is far outpacing supply. For Japanese label Ssstein, demand is growing 36x faster than supply, with the former up 361% year-on-year, while supply lags at just 10%. Demand for Colleen Allen, meanwhile, is growing 1.73x faster than supply, with demand up 289% versus supply at 166%.
New York labels Rùadh, Heirlome, and Zankov all boast high “obsession-to-supply” (TRR’s equivalent to likes) ratios. Zankov has a ratio of 175 obsessions per item (11,226 total obsessions versus just 64 items, the latter of which is up 79% year-on-year).
Photo: Courtesy of The RealReal
“People are learning tons about small, interesting brands early on in their careers through Substack, through TikTok, through different inroads outside the traditional fashion media system,” Naiman says. That these brands are now part of the resale market — if underrepresented relative to their demand — is a good thing, she adds.
