The interview: Laura Vidrequin, Founder, Kids O’Clock

Former NET-A-PORTER and Harvey Nichols buyer Laura Vidrequin set up childrenswear and goods resale platform Kids O’Clock in 2019, and she has seized on a gap in the market “for the love of preloved” in a sector not previously properly catered for. She tells us all about it.

When did you launch Kids O’Clock and how would you best describe it?

I launched it in September 2019, initially as a side project which took a few months to build. Then, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, it took a very different turn. A lot of parents had to stay home and they wanted to declutter their houses. There was a very big Marie Kondo trend around cleaning their environment and owning less. Marie Kondo is like the queen of organising, and she has a famous book on it all. We started to see a very large amount of uploads to the website, and a large upturn in sales. I’d describe Kids O’Clock best as a marketplace for kids’ preloved items, whether it’s clothes, gear or toys – everything that has gone through a first life that can be re-sold.

What is your background prior to launching Kids O’Clock and how has that experience helped in setting it up?

I am a parent with a three year-old son, but I realised this was a big opportunity due to my expertise in retail more than anything. I’ve always been in the fashion industry as a buyer or merchandiser. I’m French and I moved to New York when I was 18 for my first job in buying. I went on to work for some of biggest retail spaces such as Ralph Lauren and NET-A-PORTER in London, among others. That’s really where I got a very deep understanding of product, consumer behaviour and edit assortment. My forte is really with the product. Some of my Kids O’Clock team are also formerly from NET-A-PORTER, and also Vestiaire Collective and ASOS.

Do you think you spotted a real opportunity?

Yes, as there was a huge gap in the market. The amount of second-hand pieces in people’s closets is predicted to grow from 21% in 2021 to 27% in 2023, with the value of the second-hand sector forecasted to be worth over $60 billion by 2025 (source: BCG). Also, the kidswear market is huge and no-one was addressing the problem of sizing and having to constantly buy new things. It leads to such a large amount of items just piling up in closets. It’s part of my professional journey and expertise in really seeing opportunities within existing markets. Kidswear was the one I noticed had the biggest growth, so it was natural for me to go for it.

In terms of clothing, kidswear must create the biggest wastage of all?

Unfortunately it does, but fortunately for my business. What I find is the most interesting part of that journey as a founder, is that a lot of parents are now really educated to consume better. I don’t think it’s a trend, I think it’s a shift in consumerism in general - and it’s here to stay.

How does Kids O’Clock work?

You can put any item that your kid owned and is no longer using and put it up for sale, and we’ve made it easier with the launch of our new app at the beginning of January. You take a picture of the item, give some details of exactly what it is, put a price on it and sell it. Our marketplace takes a 30% cut of the sale. We have a seller who made almost £4,000 in the course of just a few months. It’s not that it was particularly expensive stuff, it was more volume as she has five kids

How would you say Kids O’Clock is unique?

The really unique side of it is the branding that goes with the marketplace. We’re not necessarily used to seeing a service linked to such a strong brand. If you think of Airbnb, Uber or Deliveroo, there’s not much of a brand around them. You will get any place, any car or driver and any type of food in any type of packaging. What we’re doing is incentivising the parents to make it a very comfortable place to shop and sell by creating a strong brand and DNA. The entire editorial around it – the message and imagery - looks very refined, and that’s one of the real points of difference from eBay, for example, where you see a bit of everything. Another big point is the community aspect of Kids O’Clock. That is extremely important. Also, the relationship we have with retailers and brand is another aspect. We partner with Harvey Nichols in London, and Caramel – a very big UK based kidswear brand. We help them fulfil their circular requirements, as through Kids O’Clock drop off points their clientele can take in items that aren’t used anymore and they get a coupon to spend instore. We did the deal with Caramel last August and with Harvey Nichols last September. I know the team at Harvey Nichols as I also worked there between 2008 and 2009 as a womenswear and accessories buyer, and I knew they would be interested. We’re going to be launching with multiple other locations in the UK and in Europe this year. There’s a lot of brands and retailers that need help to become more circular.

Who is your real target market?

Everyone who is close to a kid! Whether they are parents, sisters, brothers, aunts and everyone who is realising the amount of waste there is in the kidswear industry. It’s a pretty wide market. Also, if you think about it, nowadays there are about 30 million kids on Depop, and a lot of them will become parents themselves in the next 10 years or so. That’s where our growth is interesting, as we’re building something that is part of the future.

How many items are currently up for sale on the resale platform and what are the leading brands and most desired items?

It fluctuates between about 8,000 and 10,000 and we have a very healthy mix of brands and items. A lot of parents are coming to us looking for specific items and then they tend to check out more things on the website to add on. I don’t get to decide what works – the parents are deciding – but brands that parents do look for include Ralph Lauren, Bonpoint and Bonton and other designer brands which are always popular.

What age groups does it cover across both girls and boys and what age bracket seems to be the most popular so far with users?

We cover from birth up to aged 14. The most popular seems to be from birth up to 5 years-old. That’s where we’re seeing the most growth. Some kids need a change of clothing in a bigger size every three to six months.

How do you intend to grow the business this year and beyond?

When I launched Kids O’Clock I had intended to stay in the UK, but we quickly started getting suppliers in different countries. In the course of 18 months, we were serving 10 countries, including France, Spain, Italy and the Scandinavian countries. We also have a lot of interest from the US now as well, so the next intention is to scale up in those countries. Our new app is also proving to be extremely successful, because it makes the process so much quicker to sell or to buy, and there’s an instant messaging system.

What is the real appeal of buying second hand clothes for your kids, as a lot of parents would still want to buy new?

Yes, I think there’s still a little bit of a stigma around it but the general rule of thumb is that second-hand is here to stay. According to the environmental charity Hubbub, a child will wear approximately 200 pieces of clothing in their first few years yet 80% of a child’s wardrobe is only worn a handful of times, equating to over 183m outgrown children’s clothing sitting in the back of UK wardrobes. The sustainable childrenswear market is therefore ripe with opportunity, with 71% of parents claiming they became more concerned about sustainability after having a child, yet becoming a parent makes your household 25% less environmentally friendly. This is exactly where Kids O’Clock comes in as an online destination for conscious parents to buy and sell preloved children’s items. Parents need it to be easy for them, and we’ve made that happen.

What is the Golden Service on the website and how does that work?

Our Golden Service is a white glove service where we offer parents the opportunity to let us do everything for them. We pick up the goods from their home, or send them a pre-paid label so they can take the goods to a drop off point, and we literally do everything else. Once the items are sold, they get the cash, but for that service we take a higher 40% commission. That’s working very well.

What is the Brand Ambassador Programme and how does that work and benefit the Kids O’Clock brand?

We’ve found that there are a lot of parents who want to be involved in the growth of the business. I think it’s because they find it quite visionary to finally have a trustable environment to sell and buy their kids’ clothes, and so we give them the opportunity of representing the brand in their own community. There are a few different ways that they are incentivised, but most of the time they are just really excited to be part of something that is working and has so much growth in it.