eBay brings streetwear pop-up to NYC

Christmas came early for the hypebeasts.

EBay opened a street fashion pop-up this week to bring its authenticated sneakers and streetwear to the real world.

Canal Street Wear, in lower Manhattan, is an extension of eBay’s online authentication program, which recently expanded to streetwear. The pop-up, which is active Nov. 3 and 4, will offer on-site authentication from eBay’s streetwear team, and will feature products from brands including Bape, Kith, and Supreme.

• EBay’s top merchants in the category, including NYMilan, Rif, and Soled Out Jersey City, will have curated items for sale.
• Customers can also bring their own items and have them authenticated at the store.

“Expanding Authenticity Guarantee to streetwear brings peace of mind that every item is the real deal and furthers our efforts to make eBay the most trusted destination for streetwear. Canal Street Wear highlights eBay’s incredible selection and commitment to authenticity,” Charis Marquez, global VP of fashion at eBay, said in a statement.

Keep it real: As of 2022, the streetwear market was estimated to be worth $187 billion, according to a 2023 Absolute Reports study, and eBay says searches for streetwear on the platform are up a whopping 150% this year.

But industry mavens know that the fever and passion behind streetwear also leads to a lot of counterfeiting, which is why eBay introduced its authenticity guarantee program.

• It’s the same logic that drove the company to build out its program for sneakers, a market that has a great deal of crossover with streetwear consumers, Garry Thaniel, eBay’s global general manager of sneakers and streetwear, previously told Retail Brew.
• Canal Street Wear is the latest of eBay’s recent fashion forays, including the introduction of a luxury consignment service in September and the company’s July acquisition of Certilogo, an AI-powered authentication tool for apparel and accessories.

“People want to trust the shopping experience, and that’s what we’re really trying to lean into,” Thaniel told us this spring. “We’re trying to make sure that from an enthusiast standpoint, people who care about certain categories, we lean into those categories.”