Meet our professional sellers: Vintage Operandi
In this series, we want to introduce our community to some of our partners and the professional sellers on our platform.
Next up: Vintage Operandi! We talked to Vintage Operandi – about the business, product assortment, the secondhand fashion industry and partnership with TVB – and the answers are provided by none other than Candice Burgi, CEO of Vintage Operandi.
Vintage Operandi – who are they?
Vintage Operandi is a B2C business, meaning the business sells directly to private shoppers. Candice sources her own items but she also sells pieces for other sellers. All sales happen through the website or during various events during the year.
The business came about during the pandemic with the website launching in December 2020. Candice has been passionate about fashion from a young age which comes as no surprise as she grew up in a household of art and antique dealers. This showed her the beauty of vintage items and in combination with her love for fashion, the dream of owning a vintage boutique formed.
The down time we all experienced during the pandemic gave Candice the time to make her dream come true and she was able to create the universe that is Vintage Operandi.
Photo: The Vintage Bar
Advantages of secondhand fashion
The name Vintage Operandi comes from the word vintage and the term modus operandi. On the Vintage Operandi website, Candice of course touches on sustainability. Luxury brands are becoming more aware of the situation and some have even started doing eco-friendly clothes. Candice however doesn’t necessarily think this is enough. Instead she mentions that “our entire way of consuming has to change”. Modus operandi is a Latin term used to describe the habitual way of operation for an individual or a group and perfectly encapsulates the change in our behaviors as consumers that Candice would like to see change and evolve to involve more vintage fashion.
When asked about why she decided to open a vintage store instead of selling new items, Candice explains that she always felt different growing up. She loved shopping at thrift stores and at the flea market and the best compliment she could get was someone asking where her bag was from – and it being a rare secondhand piece!
Candice is a firm believer in personal style and she thinks vintage fashion plays a big part in developing your own style. An extensive catalog of collectable vintage pieces can be combined with new pieces for a unique look and hopefully Vintage Operandi can help you find your very own style.
Candice wraps up our talk on the topic by saying, “in the world we’re living and with all [the] ecological problems, it makes more sense to buy and sell secondhand!”.
What do they specialize in?
Vintage Operandi sells secondhand luxury clothing, bags, shoes and accessories. In the future, Candice would like to focus more on archive pieces from the runway as well.
Photos: The Vintage Bar
Because the basis of Vintage Operandi is so focused on high quality and luxury, the boutique doesn’t really follow trends. Candice says that of course “I’ll sell coats during [the] fall/winter [season] and dresses during [the] summer”, but her true focus lies with the pieces that transcend both seasons and trends – the pieces that she personally really loves.
Because the pieces Candice sources don’t follow trends, she realizes that her inventory might not be for everyone. She says, Vintage Operandi is for the customer “who loves to wear extraordinary things”.
What sets them apart from other resellers?
Candice strongly believes that her selection of luxury items sets her apart, as she specializes in true vintage and not secondhand products that have only been around for a couple of years.
She’s managed to create a universe around these pieces that she takes great pride in and that she believes makes her stand out from other resellers.
Photo: The Vintage Bar
Working with a partner like TVB
When asked about Copenhagen Fashion Week, Candice says she loves Copenhagen and that “Copenhagen Fashion Week is maybe the most fashionable event”. Ever since the beginning of her working with The Vintage Bar she knew that she’d be participating in our event at CPH Fashion Week.
Every fashion week, The Vintage Bar sets up a styling lounge with the help of our professional sellers. The concept is that influential people from the fashion industry can come by our headquarter in Copenhagen and borrow premium and luxury secondhand and vintage pieces for the duration of fashion week. We do this in order to spread awareness about secondhand fashion and to show both high and low that vintage fashion is cool.
Candice and Vintage Operandi partakes in this, so Candice has the opportunity to meet up with the TVB team. She’s also lend us some amazing pieces for this because she “loves seeing [her] products worn around the city”. Candice points out that fashion week goers create some really extraordinary and surprising looks and if there’s one thing we know, it’s that you can never be too inspired! Candice also loves how people style pieces from different collections in a single look.
When speaking on TVB, Candice mentions that she believes that Vintage Operandi and The Vintage Bar were always meant to collaborate.
I think we have the same vision and the same taste in items
- Candice Burgi, CEO of Vintage Operandi
She mentions how most people just a couple of years ago thought that vintage was old and didn’t pay it much attention. Candice however believes that the ideas for the secondhand fashion industry that both Vintage Operandi and TVB share can change the outlook on vintage pieces and show that they’re a great asset to the world that we’re living in.
We’re so happy to have Candice and Vintage Operandi on the platform because Candice has proven to be just as enthusiastic about both fashion and sustainability as we are.
