Welcome to Commune
An interview with Jackie Zhan, the founder of Smithereen07, who's recently opened a new showroom in Vancouver. Stunned is an understatement after seeing his current inventory.
Like many of you, I’ve scoured through Facebook Marketplace listings to find any and all deals worth snagging (biggest W so far is finding a moccamaster for $100). Throughout my travels, I’ve found various listings featuring items by our GOATs like Martin Margiela, Comme des Garçons, and various others. Upon further inspection, I noticed that they’re all from the same user - Smithereen07.
At first, I thought it was someone under an alias that was just dishing out heater after heater through marketplace. Unfortunately, for mid/big boys like myself, the sizing often didn’t work and I had to pass; eventually seeing it marked as sold. I’d sit there in silence, thinking about what could’ve been. Oh, the pain.
A few months later, I go out for a stroll through the neighbourhood and pop into Roden Gray for a quick visit. I see they’ve added a new team member. Well, if it isn’t Mr. Smithereen07 himself - Jackie Zhan.
Vancouver’s very much a quiet-luxury and/or activewear/gorp city. I’ve at times struggled here as it’s not the most welcoming place for fashion, as even just wearing a skirt by CDG often led to laughs and finger-pointing. Luckily, we have a new beacon of light breathing life into this city’s fashion landscape that could push this city to become more inclusive.
I recently sat down with Jackie to go over his sourcing process, their new showroom, and how it all got started.
(recording started mid-way into our conversation)
J: It's unrealistic to go in Japan twice a year, just purely for sourcing. Last year I was in Japan three times, and each time I was there, I feel like there's less stuff for us to buy. After COVID, the country opened up to so many tourists, especially people from the States.
They know all the spots, right? All the spots that sell secondhand designer pieces for cheap, basically. Sourcing in person has never been like a focus for us, just because it's not the most effective way. Even though it is nice to actually see the garment in-person, that way that buyers do. It decreases the margin of error, basically. But when you buy online, it's a somewhat different story; it’s difficult. You’re not sending line sheets, or seeing the garments in-person.
C: Japan continues to be the hot-spot for secondhand designer, but are there any other cities that are beginning to pop off for this?
Everybody knows at this point, there are no secret spots. Have you heard of Constant Practice? They have a lot of rare, archival pieces that are much harder to source online, so they probably had a plug to get access to those pieces. There is another spot, I was there last year actually - Laila Tokio. They have the craziest European designer archive selection, and it’s better than the Archive Store.
Bro, last time I was there I saw a taxi pull up in front of me - two guys, each with two big IKEA bags. Pure archive. If you go to their website [Laila Tokio], the stuff they have is truly crazy. But imagine - each person with two big IKEA bags, filled with designer clothes.
I'm pretty sure. they have a connection. I think I read online somewhere that the owner of Laila has a connection to the Antwerp 6. Easier access to the good stuff.
When it comes to online shops, where do you typically source your pieces?
It’s 2024, everybody knows everything by now. I primarily use YahooAuctions, Mercari, Vinted.
During COVID, I would browse and go to the last page for the designer I’m looking for.
I’ll often hit page, I don’t know, 192. Sometimes backtrack to see if I missed anything. I’m crazy, I know.
I usually hit maybe page 18, not 192, haha. Vinted, I'll say is less popular, but it’s also less accessible. Sourcing from Japan, you have so many proxy services that do a very good job; everything is very convenient because you know how Japanese people do their thing. Everything's very organized.
People are gonna hate me when I say this, but the Hussein Chalayan dress that I have .. I got it off Poshmark for very cheap.
Really?
The person did not know what she was selling, she did not know it was a runway piece. Everybody has their luck and this is a good example for me. It also relates to the amount of time you’re spending; looking for these pieces. It’s all about investing time into this.
For me, I remember going to the Value Village in East Vancouver and spending time there since they always had good gems. Would often see Rick, Margiela, a lot of Yohji, etc.
It was burned down?
Yeah, it happened a few years ago. How did Smithereen start?
Smithereen started in 2020, a few months after the pandemic first started here in Canada. Everything went online. I like to experiment first before I beginning planning things out. Even when I started stock market investing, I would invest $1,000 into whatever I feel like I want to invest; random stuff that I wasn’t very familiar with. Then I started to learn more about it after reading this book - The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham.
As for clothes, I started buying for myself, and sometimes, if it didn’t actually fit me, or if I came across a good deal that I couldn't pass on, I would still pick it up and resell it.
(Emily) That’s you, Chris.
If you find something cheap, then why not get it, right? Get it for a deal, resell it for more. That’s how I started and originally started posting on Grailed, but then I started talking to an old classmate about this. I’m actually from Hamilton, Ontario -
Emily, also from Ontario, glances over.
He runs a very successful car export business in Alberta right now. In his heart, he definitely is a businessman. At the time, it [Smithereen] was more of a hobby, but we discussed it over lunch and he offered to invest. He invested a third into everything we had. He’s more of a silent partner.
At first we were selling decently, but in the winter, people are buying more because of the holiday season. Even me, I’m spending a lot more -
Oh, yeah, you should see my bank statements.
I started buying pieces that I liked. I would never buy pieces just because they would resell which is the difference between this and, for example, sneaker reselling. They know what sells regardless if it’s nice or not. I have standards of what I buy, what I post online, and I think that kind of hinders my profit in a way.
Everything’s is priced reasonably. People in Vancouver - they always try to negotiate with you in terms of like the money.
Lord, yeah. Anytime I put something up on marketplace, I'll put it up for a great price and will get offered like $15 for a $300 item. It's a low-ball city, but at the same time, I also have my times here and there where I try to low-ball as well. To see if there’s a chance.
Has there been a significant change in your curation from when you first started to now?
I’ve tried to keep the same designers, same curation throughout the years. Everybody else changed. If you look at their the stuff from four years ago compared to what they’re selling now, it's almost completely different.
There are only many so many pieces out there from Comme des Garçons, Yohji, and there’s only going to be less in the future. The margins are only going to be lower. So, for me, I always try to have a theme when it comes to curation. If you’ve seen the Anti-Fashion 90s documentary on Youtube, that summarizes the core of what I currently buy.
At the same time, it’s difficult. Everybody's looking for smaller, more niche brands that nobody else is carrying, but also have brands like Lemaire, Acne Studios, Our Legacy - right? It’s difficult to sell those at full price when everyone has them; they’re all waiting for the SSENSE sale. It’s not competitive.
Yeah, it seems like every shop is trying to carry what the same brands with similar buying. The ones that brought these brands on early are now moving onto more niche brands and breaking new ground, while the ones catching up are just beating a dead horse really.
I'm a stubborn person in in that sense. I would say myself as a collector as well.
It was not until like we started Commune that I realized we still need to have a certain margin to move things, have a better turnover; help sustain our business. Sometimes you just have to let go of our ego and bring in products that will sell better, but don’t really align with your curation/vision.
You have to understand what the audience wants, what a customers want, you know, instead of just stuff I really like.
Personally, I love how how you’ve curated the shop. Even though you have the classics like Comme des Garçons or Issey, the pieces that you have are pieces that I've not really seen anywhere else. Even in places like New York or Paris.
It's very beautifully curated. Keep doing what you're doing because you absolutely standout compared to the others (e.g. Archivist, Country Of).
Are your clients local, or is it mostly international?
International, but we're trying to make this switch to local. That's why we’ve opened a showroom here in Chinatown. We do have a website launching for Commune, so we are busy getting more content out, but right now, it’s mostly friends and family.
I'm happy you have a physical space to see your inventory. It reminds me of my time in New York and how inspiring it was there, and now having that here - it's what the city needs. Something new and refreshing, and I feel like you're providing that.
You're not the only person saying that.
It really inspires me and pushes me to keep doing this, keep growing this. Thank you for saying that.
Commune is located on 237 Keefer Street in Vancouver, British Columbia. To see Jackie’s current inventory, you can visit their website, or follow them on Instagram.
The shop also contains Provoke’s inventory, which Jackie is currently managing, and can be accessed here.
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- Chris
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