FashionUnited publishes a series of interviews dedicated to the most
requested professionals in the fashion industry, both by the brands and by
companies active in fashion and luxury e-commerce. We decided to hear from
fashion and e-commerce companies to understand the most popular roles, how
much can be gained by those in these positions, what are the best training
paths and attitudes required to find a job and make a career in fashion and
luxury.
This week we interviewed Adriano Arpino, a sneaker authenticator who is
responsible for verifying that the sneakers sold through Stockx, the
platform for which he works at, are authentic and have never been used. A
decidedly original profession in the fashion scene that, according to
market quotations, earns about thirty thousand euros a year and has good
prospects for growth in the company and career opportunities in a world
where e-commerce is developing more and more.
What exactly is Stockx and how does it work?
Stockx, founded in Detroit in 2016, is the reselling platform where you
can sell and buy luxury consumer goods such as sneakers and streetwear
accessories using the same methods as the stock market. The site has over
11 million unique users per month, with a turnover of almost $2 million
every day. The platform directly connects sellers and buyers with the same
authentic, transparent and anonymous methods of the Stock Exchange,
allowing you to bid with “bid and ask” transactions in real time. Buyers
and sellers are thus able to see the prices of products in real time and
can immediately buy or sell at the lowest list price or make an offer that
can later be accepted.
And what role is your role as the sneaker authentication
specialist?
All products, before being shipped to the buyer, are verified for
quality and authenticity by an authorized Stockx authenticator. I, for
example, check the sneakers. In this way, the platform guarantees 100
percent authenticity for every item purchased and sold on the site.
Do you work in the American office?
No, I work in London where, in October 2018-the platform opened the
first European Authentication Centre to offer all consumers in Europe
access to a wide range of products otherwise difficult to buy: ranging from
popular brands such as Adidas Yeezy and Nike Jordan in the sneaker
category; to Supreme, Palace and Kith in the streetwear category; to Louis
Vuitton, Gucci and Chanel bags.
How long have you been in this profession and what kind of training do
you have?
I’ve been doing this job for about 6 months but I’ve always been
interested in fashion. I know the market and the product well and
especially sneakers because it’s a personal passion of mine. I studied at
university in a completely different way: I have a degree in geopolitics
from the University of Hertfordshire.
But how do you distinguish a fake shoe from an authentic one,
especially in a market where models and collections are constantly
changing?
First of all, there is a period of training in the company both for the
process that leads to authentication and for the verification of sizes. You
have to check the measures actually correspond to those of the ad. Sneaker
verification involves sight, smell and touch. First of all, you start from
the box, this is also essential to verify whether it is an original or a
fake. The smell is another wake-up call: fake shoes generally have a toxic
smell, very strong due to the use of glues and other materials. Then there
are models that if they are authentic have an unmistakable smell, such as
Jordan Air 1, for example. The sole must also be checked both to ensure the
authenticity of the product, both to see if it has been used, in this case,
it can not be shipped.
How many shoes do you check out per hour and how do you keep up to date
on the models?
I check about fifty shoes per hour. To keep up to date, I follow what
has always been a passion of mine: I go to the shops, study the product,
analyze the requests and try to understand if a particular model can
acquire value or not.
The original version of this interview was published on May 30th, 2019 on
FashionUnited Italy. The text has been translated and slightly abbreviated
for an international audience.
Photos: Adriano Arpino and London’s Authentication Centre in Stockx, from
Stockx Press Office
