Where Luxury, Philanthropy, and Sustainability Meet

It’s the kind of online resale boutique fashionistas dream about: Giambattista Valli pants from Elizabeth Hurley’s closet. Zac Posen gowns for less than $200. Vintage Chanel, Bottega Veneta and Louis Vuitton handbags.

Called LuxAnthropy, it’s an L.A.-based online consignment store that offers sellers and shoppers an eco-friendly marketplace for high fashion pieces. But, as you might have deduced from the name – a mashup of “luxury” and “philanthropy” – it supports more than just sustainable shopping: It also allows sellers to donate a portion of their proceeds to their favorite charity.

“Being at the forefront of where environment, fashion, philanthropy and sustainability all dovetail and intersect is what we're excited about,” says co-founder Jennifer Mann Hillman.

Hillman and Lisa Eisler established the company in 2017. Hillman, a communications, marketing and philanthropic executive, and Eisler, a costume designer who has been a lead stylist for multiple TV shows, wanted to create a place where people could upcycle clothes from their closets while also supporting charities they’re passionate about. 

As with other upscale consignment websites, sellers send items in to be priced and posted. They also designate the percentage of the sale price that will be donated to a charity of their choice. LuxAnthropy donates 5 percent of their proceeds from the sale to that same charity, as well.

Shoppers can read the name of the charity the item supports in the description of the piece. Proceeds from a recently sold Jil Sander chocolate brown cashmere coat, for instance, went to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, while the sale of a pair of shimmery gray Christian Louboutin pumps benefited the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Though the minimum percentage for sellers to donate is 5 percent, Hillman said that more than half of sellers choose to donate 100 percent of their commission to their selected charity. Still, she stresses, any amount is appreciated. 

“We wanted to create a place where people could give the amount that makes sense for their personal lifestyle,” Hillman says.

Given the types of items they sell, LuxAnthropy takes care to determine that the pieces on their site are genuine. They work with outside organizations to authenticate clothing, bags and shoes before pricing, styling, photographing and listing them. “We wanted to make sure that everything that we were selling was just as we were describing it,” Hillman says.

LuxAnthropy has also worked hard to build their reputation and relationship with charities. The first charity they partnered with was the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. 

“They really took a risk on us,” Hillman says. “But they loved our idea, and they didn't know why it wasn't being done already.”

Now, LuxAnthropy is aligned with almost 30 global, national and local charities with a variety of causes. “From our point of view, there's no area that we don't want to reach,” she says.

That goes for their green initiatives, as well. Recently, they were listed as an approved vendor in the Producers Guild of America Green Production Guide, which provides TV and movie studios with tools and resources to reduce the environmental footprint of their productions.

LuxAnthropy works with the studios to sell wardrobe items from a production and donate the proceeds to a charity that aligns with the studio’s mission or the production’s message. For instance, clothing, shoes and purses from “The Prom” film are currently for sale on the site, with proceeds going to Children Mending Hearts, a nonprofit organization that combats bullying by inspiring empathy in children through art and service-learning opportunities. 

“It’s an exciting new space that we're in, and we think it really aligns well with the DNA of our company,” Hillman says.

The fashion pieces from a film or TV set may not be designer, but many shoppers will jump at the chance to own something that was a part of a movie or show they loved. 

“That's the whole idea about upcycling: that you're excited to have it in your closet and pull it out and wear it multiple times,” she says. “And then maybe when you're done with it, you upcycle it to someone else.”