How six men's knitwear labels hold up on the secondhand market, why resale prices follow the name more than the knit, and what to check before buying.
Resale prices follow the name on the label far more closely than the quality of the knit, and the gap between the two is where the value sits.
Loro Piana and Brunello Cucinelli sit at the top of Italian knitwear, and their retail prices carry that position. Loro Piana, based in Quarona in Piedmont and part of LVMH since 2013, built its name on raw material, baby cashmere above all. See listings at /mens/loro-piana/sweaters.
Cucinelli, headquartered in the Umbrian village of Solomeo, sells as much on colour and finish as on fibre. Both labels shed a large share of retail once a sweater leaves the boutique, because the original price included margin and positioning that a second owner is not paying for. Browse pieces at /mens/brunello-cucinelli/sweaters.
The yarn and the knitting are unchanged by that drop, but wear is not. Check cuffs, elbows and underarms for pilling and thinning, which tell you more about a used sweater than the label does.
N.Peal has traded from London's Burlington Arcade since 1936 and is a cashmere specialist rather than a fashion house that happens to sell knitwear. Current listings appear at /mens/n-peal.
Barrie is a mill in Hawick, in the Scottish Borders, knitting since 1903 and owned by Chanel since 2012. Its own-label pieces carry far less name recognition with resale buyers than the Italian houses, so they tend to be priced on the name rather than the make, which is the clearest mispricing in this list. Find Barrie options at /mens/barrie.
Sizing varies between houses, and between decades of the same house. Ask for pit-to-pit and length measurements rather than trusting the tag.
Polo Ralph Lauren and Vince are where the trade-down happens, and both sell cashmere alongside merino. At resale the composition matters more than the label: a merino Polo crewneck is an everyday sweater and is priced like one. View stock at /mens/polo-ralph-lauren/sweaters.
Vince, an American contemporary label, built much of its reputation on cashmere, which makes its cashmere pieces a better secondhand target than its merino. Read the composition tag in the listing photos, and if the seller has not photographed it, ask before buying. Check Vince offerings at /mens/vince/sweaters.
