
Danni is the founder of The Hosta an online destination for curated and authenticated preloved and vintage designer bags and accessories, the name The Hosta came from her love of gardening and my favourite plant, a Hosta, the business launched in early 2020.
Tell us about the first designer bag you owned, and was that the bag that kicked off your love affair with luxury bags?
I certainly was not the kid that could afford luxuries growing up, but I have always loved fashion. I grew up close to Brighton and loved searching for vintage through the lanes there. I pursued a career in product development and specialised in handbags. Vintage bags were always our starting point when creating a new collection for brands, so my love of vintage designer started there. When I received a big promotion at work, I often treated myself to a new bag and an early piece was a Givenchy Antigona, when it was first released.
When did you switch to buying pre loved?
Growing up close to Brighton in the 90's, vintage was always readily available and back then a much cheaper alternative to new clothes, so have always worn vintage from a teenager. But more expensive vintage designer items, especially bags, were not so easy to find. I have always loved Ebay though! Today my wardrobe is a real mix of pre-loved, vintage and carefully considered new pieces.
Most prized pre loved bag you own?
A rare vintage Chanel Denim Camellia bag.
The holy grail of pre loved you are yet to find?
The Alaia leopard printed calf hair tote bag! I will find this one day, I am very determined.
Most requested bag from your customers?
Most probably a Louis Vuitton Petit Noe bag, a great every day bucket bag, originally designed by the house to carry champagne bottles!
What should customers look for when shopping pre loved accessories?
With the rise of super fakes I would highly recommend shopping with an expert. We physically hold and inspect every bag, ensuring quality and authenticity. We have partnered with Entrupy to extend our authentication process for items above £1000, giving further security and assurance. Entrupy use AI technology to authenticate bags, we scan the bag using a Entrupy device, a set of microscopic images are collected and analysed by machine learning algorithms trained with millions of microscopic images from known-authentic and known-counterfeit products.
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