Heroine campaign shoot styled by Kristen Dempsey, shot by Rebekah Campbell. Brynn wears a Comme des... [+]
In just under four years, Arun Gupta’s peer-to-peer resale site, Grailed went from having a modest following to becoming a thriving, high-concept menswear hub capturing the attention of A$AP Rocky, Playboi Carti, Virgil Abloh, and Kanye West. Grailed was able to quickly fill a void in the menswear market, offering viral “hype beast” trend pieces and arguably one of the most impressive troves of limited-edition finds, while establishing a forum for its community of dedicated users to talk about it all. This formula worked, and thanks to the overwhelming demand from Grailed’s existing female customer base, the team was inspired to expand its footprint into womenswear. Today, the highly anticipated sister site, Heroine, has officially been unveiled.
At the helm is Heroine’s brand director, Kristen Dempsey who comes from Dover Street Market with over a decade of experience in costume design for theater and opera in London. “I’ve built my career around thinking about how people dress, and the dialogue clothing creates,” Dempsey shared with Forbes via email. “I think that having a broad knowledge of designers from luxury to niche, past to present, gives me the ability to serve the different communities across the womenswear spectrum that we created Heroine for.”
Heroine lives completely on its own as a separate marketplace, and with its own URL. Built on the success of Grailed, the team wanted its female counterpart to feel familiar but intentional, and since its unanimous decision to expand into the category, it was obvious that the womenswear component had to exist beyond a simple “tab” on the current interface. Dempsey explains, “We felt that expanding the existent Grailed site to encompass women’s would be a disservice to the womenswear community. Having it on the Grailed site as a separate strata felt like an afterthought. We wanted to give womenswear its own space to expand organically and develop its own voice and point of view.”
Heroine’s site showcases a clean, user-friendly layout with original branding displayed throughout the logo and typeface, lending itself to a more feminine web design. Product is populated in the order in which it’s been uploaded, colonizing in a grid of icons that feels like you’re scrolling through an Instagram feed. You can refine your product search based on a custom set of filters, or one of three markets: grail (high-end designers and luxury niche brands), hype (streetwear and sportswear items), and core (for staple brands and vintage). Like Grailed, your self-curated “shop” is organized within the “My Grails” landing page where you can keep an eye on the pieces you’re coveting, or begin negotiations with the seller. Launched just this morning, Heroine is already boasting hundreds of product units across a range of brands from Nike to Alaïa, as well as exclusives like Paul Harnden that aren’t available elsewhere on the web. You may also find some non-fashion surprises, like a Gucci x Olivetti typewriter from the 1960s going for $850.
While Grailed was truly a trailblazer for the menswear resale market, industry experts might argue it won’t be as easy for Heroine. The women’s market is lucrative but becoming over-saturated, with reputable secondhand sites that preexist like The RealReal or Tradesy. However, the Heroine team asserts that their model caters to a more discerning consumer, and they accomplish this by focusing on three pillars that represent the platform’s DNA: concentrating on developing inventory, fostering an empowered community of likeminded womenswear enthusiasts, and employing a unique vertical to inspire conversation around women’s fashion. For the community pillar, Heroine eliminates third party interference, so you’re free to share, negotiate, and process directly (as the buyer or seller) in a supportive environment where fellow users can seek guidance for strategic purchases and participate in a more intimate transaction. With regard to content, much like Grailed’s blog “Dry Clean Only,” Heroine has enlisted a network of writers to submit original features like designer education, spotlights on brands you may not be as familiar with, or variations of style guides.
Will Heroine replicate the success of Grailed and become a shopping destination for a Kardashian or female rap star? Dempsey mentioned she’s focused on celebrating the foundational members over garnering a celebrity following, but she’d love to work with the likes of Solange, Joanna Newsom, Hari Nef, Tracee Ellis Ross, Petra Collins, or Adwoa Aboah – women who she feels represent the Heroine ethos and aesthetic. “Heroine has its own narrative, separate from Grailed," she says. "We think of the two marketplaces as siblings, not twins. In our inaugural phase, we’re keeping the focus high-minded but broad, with the hope that the community will organically dictate the direction the site takes.”
