Written by Simone | 20th June 2018
Irene Buffa, fashionista and blogger, loves vintage fashion, but finding great pieces isn’t always easy. Our in-house fashion expert and fellow fashion-lover Stefania Filizola sat down with Irene Buffa to discuss her passion for fashion and to share her experiences with Catawiki. Watch the video or read below for more.
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Meet Irene Buffa
Irene’s passion for vintage started by looking at old pictures of her grandmother. She enjoyed the images of beautiful dresses and gowns so much, she even saved her mother’s clothes when she wanted to throw them away. It’s not just about the looks though, she also loves the unique story behind each piece. In 2012 she started the blog 'Omw' (Onto My Wardrobe), which became an online destination for fashionistas around the world in less than a year. Irene shared with us that her favourite feature of Catawiki is the many pieces she can choose from, with new items in auction every week. The fact that the auctions are curated by experts give her an extra sense of security when she places a bid.
italian Fashion Blogger Irene Buffa
Meet Stefania Filizola
Stefania Filizola is a fashion expert at Catawiki. She has previously worked for galleries in London and studied e-commerce in the field of design and fashion. As an expert, Stefania and her team are responsible for assessing every item that is offered up for auction, selecting the best items to be included in the auctions and curating the auctions. Stefania’s favourite fashion item is the bag, because she loves how the right bag can perfectly compliment an outfit.
In the video you can see how Irene Buffa’s grandmother and mother caused Irene Buffa to fall in love with vintage fashion and why she loves Catawiki. Irene also asks Stefania what the most popular brands in Catawiki’s fashion auctions are, how she determines if an item is authentic using a Gucci bag and some Louboutin boots as an example, and what happens after you win an auction.
How Catawiki’s fashion auctions work
In the video, Irene and Stefania briefly discuss how buying and selling vintage fashion on Catawiki works. First, you sign up and within a few clicks you can start bidding or uploading your own vintage fashion items for auction. The most sought after brands are luxury brands, such as Chanel, Cartier and Louis Vuitton. The items can be vintage, second hand or just second-season.
Not all items offered up are accepted for auction however; only items that are considered ‘special’ and authentic will make it to the auction. Because Catawiki is an auction platform that solely operates online, several pictures need to be taken of the item or other materials that prove the item’s authenticity. To determine the authenticity of an item, Stefania and the rest of the fashion experts look at things such as the general shape and design, the quality, logos, labels, serial numbers and the dust bag.
The most sought after brands at our weekly Fashion auctions are luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Celine, Cartier
If you’ve found something you’d like to place a bid on, you can either place a manual bid or an automatic bid. If you place a manual bid, you’ll have to set a notification for your calendar for when the auction ends, otherwise someone else might outbid you and walk away with your beloved item. By setting an automatic bid however, you can set a maximum amount you’d like to spend and when you get outbid we automatically increase the bidding by the smallest increase possible until the maximum price you set is reached.
Once you're notified that you're the winner, you'll be asked to submit payment within 3 working days. After this, Catawiki notifies the seller that they can ship the item to you and soon your new vintage fashion item will be delivered!
Catawiki hosts weekly Fashion auctions
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Want to follow in Irene’s footsteps and find some amazing vintage fashion easily online? Explore the wonderful world of our Fashion auctions. If you have some amazing vintage fashion you’d love to sell on our safe and international platform, you can create your free account to get started bidding on, buying and selling fashion online.
Discover more vintage fashion | Chanel | Cartier | Louis Vuitton
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