Preloved luxury ecommerce platform PapillonKia is offering customers the chance to own designer handbags and accessories at affordable prices whilst also supporting the circular economy.
Founded by former investment banker Aqila Agha in 2014, PapillonKia has created a safe community space for people to sell their unwanted designer items in order to help them buy more and gives those craving luxury, without the hefty price tag, a place to find such items.
Featuring handbags, leather accessories, shoes and jewellery from some of the world’s top fashion houses including the likes of Chanel, Gucci, Hermes, Dior and Louis Vuitton, PapillonKia offers customers the reassurance of its 100% authenticity guarantee with all items on the site authenticated by its in-house experts before being listed.
To further demonstrate this commitment to authenticity, PapillonKia is proud to work with Entrupy, who are widely regarded as the world’s best luxury authentication solution, using artificial intelligence and microscopic computer vision to guarantee provenance and verify that items are authentic.
Starting life as an eBay shop, and then a Facebook shop, PapillonKia later launched on luxury resale platform Vestiaire Collective, where it currently holds the enviable position of being ranked 71st out of the site’s 8m members.
PapillonKia’s own website followed and founder Aqila Agha’s dream of being able to offer designer handbag lovers such as herself, the opportunity to purchase their own items at a competitive price, became a reality.
Aqila explains: “It was whilst being a stay-at-home mum that I realised my priorities had changed and I couldn’t just nip out in my lunch hour to purchase the latest Gucci or Louis Vuitton bag without having a care in the world.
“I had over 30 years’ experience of buying designer handbags and so I decided to search the web for pre-loved bags to purchase to fuel my passion as, surely they would be a lot cheaper, wouldn’t they? Goodness, how wrong I was and so that’s when I came up with the idea for PapillonKia.”
Aqila was brought up in a family business and says it was “inevitable” that she would start her own business one day. A working mother and entrepreneur, Aqila is the perfect example of identifying a need, coming up with an idea to satisfy that need and then working hard to make it a reality.
A passionate advocate who believes 100% that every product should have several users in its lifecycle, Aqila is proud that she has created a business that plays its part in making sure this happens.
Today, sales through PapillonKia continue to grow, to grow year-on-year through its website and social media platforms, and, what’s more, the business has also introduced a charity element to its offering in order to further support the circular economy. Those selling items through PapillonKia have the option to donate the proceeds to charity instead of receiving cash, should they wish.
PapillonKia’s chosen charities are Work For Good, a multi-charity platform which allows small businesses to donate to a range of local, national and international good causes.
PapillonKia offers affordable luxury at a competitive price whilst also encouraging the sustainable reuse of no-longer wanted items from some of the world’s most desirable brands.
For more information on PapillonKia or for interview opportunities with Aqila Agha please contact Amanda Ferrari at [email protected]
