“Second-hand clothing is not second-best. Actually, it's first class. We sell clothing with a quality-driven focus. At our events, you won't see clothing heaped onto tables. We put them on hangers and clothes racks.”

Robin Balser, Vinokilo

“Vinokilo helped combat the stigma of second-hand fashion.”

Robin Balser, Vinokilo

Robin Balser has loved vintage fashion ever since he was small. His mum always dressed him and his brother in second-hand clothing, but not your typical hand-me-downs. It came from his favourite neighbour Yanis, who was two years his senior. Robin Balser thought that these clothes made him the coolest kid around. A native of the Rhineland, he went on to study business in the Netherlands, then acting in London before abandoning both disciplines to start a clothing “library” nearly ten years ago. After all, he thought, why buy clothes when you can borrow them instead? The world was not ready for this idea at the time, but it welcomed his next one, second-hand clothing company Vinokilo with open arms – and wallets. Since 2015, Balser has become one of the biggest providers of vintage fashion. Last year Forbes put him on its “30 under 30” list of the brightest young entrepreneurs, thanks to the 240,000 kilograms of clothing he has found new homes for since starting the company.

“Second-hand clothing is not second-best. Actually, it's first class. We sell clothing with a quality-driven focus. At our events, you won't see clothing heaped onto tables. We put them on hangers and clothes racks.”

Robin Balser, Vinokilo

You refer to the vintage fashion you offer at Vinokilo as “The New New”. What does that mean?

Second-hand clothing is not second-best. Actually, it's first class. We sell clothing with a quality-driven focus. At our events, you won't see clothing heaped onto tables. We put them on hangers and clothes racks. We space the hangers out so that each item of clothing has enough room and looks good. Each piece is also freshly steamed, and we make any small repairs needed beforehand.

For a long time, second-hand clothing was considered inferior by most people, but now you even offer high-end labels. That wasn’t the case when you started Vinokilo in 2015, but there were a lot of second-hand shops at the time. Why were you so drawn to the idea?

I wanted to offer an alternative to fast fashion. My romanticized vision was to offer our items at events in cities twice a year – at the start of each season – so that no one would have to buy brand-new clothes. This could reduce the amount of new clothing being manufactured. At least, that was the use case I was aiming for.

How has it gone for you?

Vinokilo is definitely very popular. We sell 97 percent of the items we get in. And our events are huge: We had 100,000 visitors in the last month alone.

These events that you hold in Germany and throughout Europe are Vinokilo's trademark. What makes them so special?

The main thing is for people to have fun at our events. That’s where I got the name Vinokilo: Drink a glass of wine, browse the event, and just have a nice day. We make sure to rent venues that fit this concept, too, with lots of light and high ceilings. We used to decorate with a lot of fancy balloons, but we stopped that for sustainability reasons.

“Vinokilo helped combat the stigma of second-hand fashion.”

Robin Balser, Vinokilo

Before the pandemic, your company grew quickly and you had to obtain more and more clothing from more and more sources. How do you source your merchandise?

At first, my partner and I handled it ourselves, but I’m not involved in it anymore. Our selection process is Vinokilo's trade secret.

What does that mean?

Unlike a lot of other companies, we train our own “pickers” for the selection process. And we cooperate with a network of recyclers whom we trust and who do not sell under substandard conditions in places we don’t want to be.

You have indicated that some used clothing dealers export most of the vintage goods to Africa, which destroys the domestic textile markets there. And that some second-hand goods are recycled under inhumane working conditions.

Yes. Our ethical standards are high. Thanks to the fact that we are a fairly big company and purchase large quantities, we can choose whom we work with. My partner handles all of the quality control because we have spun off this part of our business into a separate company.

Earlier you said that one main focus of Vinokilo was to offer an alternative to fast fashion. Has Vinokilo succeeded?

We've certainly helped combat the stigma of second-hand fashion. But there are other catalysts too: Fridays for Future has put the subject in the spotlight and COVID was one reason a lot of people started to reflect on their consumer habits –

It’s been said that Fridays for Future is a movement by kids from highly educated families. How might you get everyone else involved?

I think that Vinokilo could be much more inclusive, such as when it comes to targeting different age groups. And I don't think we should snub people who buy their clothes at Primark.

Because buying fashion at such low prices is also a means of social inclusion?

Exactly. I think we need to find sustainable solutions that are accessible not just to wealthier people, but to everyone.

Thank you for the interview, Robin!