Carmen Leads $2m Villageluxe Investment

Tapping into the rise of non-traditional retailing and the increasing interest in a sharing approach to shopping, Carmen-backed Villageluxe has been at the forefront of how women today are welcoming a different approach to their wardrobes. The luxury peer-to-peer rental site puts community and sustainability at the center of its thinking, and has just announced the completion of a $2M seed round, as well as the launch of a raft of new technology across all its platforms.

Carmen leads the seed round, which is notably her largest luxury e-commerce seed investment to date. And she has been joined by Adrian Cheng’s C Ventures, Erica Duignan of Reign Ventures, and former CEO of Mosley Music and philanthropist, Monique Mosley. “Villageluxe for me is everything that I believe in,” said Carmen. “The beauty of luxury fashion and protecting Mother Earth. It decreases the need for wasteful [fast-fashion] spend and allows us to share our closets and pieces we love with incredible women.”

With vintage, couture and ready to wear clothing and accessories languishing unworn in many closets, Villageluxe founder Julia Gudish Krieger saw an opportunity to make those items work harder for their owners, giving them a new lease of life. The invite-only luxury marketplace, which currently has a waitlist exceeding 20,000, affords members access to thousands of designer items with over $10M in inventory, and in tandem allows them to monetize what they have in their closets without having to part with something they may love. “Many of my clothes have been handcrafted and represent hours of work,” said Carmen, “I wouldn’t want to resell them, but I can share them securely with like-minded women via Villageluxe.”

Currently based in New York, the company has plans for the brand to expand across select key cities this year, and has enabled a ‘Closest to You’ search capability across its platforms allowing users to discover those closets nearest to them. Villageluxe will also continue to enhance its ‘Luxer’ Profile area, where users can share and learn more about one another.

“The conversation is broadening, recognizing the importance and critical need for a more sustainable luxury economy,” said company CMO Shanin Molinaro. “Villageluxe is breaking down barriers and helping to create the luxury ‘shopping’ experience to be even more meaningful. All the while making a tiny dent in bettering the planet.”