Looking for those elusive Alaïa flats that seem to be sold out everywhere? A luxury fashion sourcer might just be your knight in shining armor. Marianna Hewitt, co-founder of skincare brand Summer Fridays, often finds herself in such a predicament. Despite her prowess in shopping, she occasionally stumbles upon items that prove elusive due to their skyrocketing demand. One such item was Alaïa’s sought-after fishnet mesh ballet flat, a shoe that gained immense popularity and shot up to the seventh rank on fashion search index Lyst’s hottest items, ultimately becoming a rarity in the market.
“When I finally decided to splurge on them, they were sold out everywhere," lamented Hewitt. However, she was not one to be deterred by a simple "out of stock" notice. Like many savvy online luxury shoppers, she realized that with the right contacts, nothing was truly unattainable. In her quest for the coveted flats, she reached out to Gab Waller, a luxury sourcing guru, who within no time, fulfilled Hewitt's wish, mirroring the success story of Sofia Richie-Grainge with the same pair.
Operating an immensely successful Instagram-based business, Waller utilizes her vast global network of boutiques, warehouses, and sample sales to track down hard-to-find items for her over 5,000 clients. She has become a beacon in the realm of fashion sourcing, a rapidly growing industry that prioritizes the end goal, the designer masterpiece, over the thrill of the chase.
In Waller's words, “Luxury sourcing is essentially the antithesis of traditional personal shopping.” While personal shoppers select and suggest items based on your taste and preferences, luxury sourcing caters to shoppers who have their hearts set on specific items, be it the trending Bottega Veneta’s drop earrings or a classic Phoebe Philo-era Celine tote bag. All they need is someone like Waller with the right connections to secure it for them.
With the rise of social media, luxury sourcing has gained significant traction in recent years. Instagram has proven to be a hotbed for sourcing experts like Waller, Michelle Lovelace, and Jennifer Nisan, each boasting a following of between 40,000 and 140,000. Shoppers can reach out to these experts via direct messages, specifying their desired item and size, and sometimes even with vague descriptions, like "Hérmes H leather sandal" or "the puffy leather jacket Hailey Bieber wore."
Notwithstanding the seemingly impossible requests, Waller never fails to amaze her clientele. Starting her venture in 2018, she has now amassed nearly seventy thousand followers on Instagram, doubled her business within a year, and expanded from a one-woman show to a round-the-clock team of twelve. From popular demand for Pangaia sweatsuits during the early pandemic to recent requests for novelty designer handbags and summer sandals, Waller has never disappointed, sourcing numerous memorable pieces like Lori Harvey's Loewe dress for a star-studded white party in the Hamptons and Khloe Kardashian's 1990s Gianfranco Ferre sunglasses.
As Waller aptly puts it, luxury sourcing is the "future" of shopping for everything—not just designer wares. And with the evolution of "luxury" and the increasing demand for seemingly sold-out items, one thing is clear: even though sourcing expedites the shopping process and eliminates the thrill of the hunt, the joy of acquiring a long-desired piece remains unparalleled, proving that convenience is indeed the ultimate luxury. Whether it's a bride ecstatic about her wedding shoes or a fashion enthusiast ecstatic about those elusive Ugg boots, the gratification that luxury sourcing provides is truly irreplaceable.
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