One of the responses to the Covid-19 pandemic has been the emerging need for our homes to be a serene sanctuary from the craziness of the world unfolding around us. This desire to feel safe from concern, stress or things that are painful has risen to a tsunami wave of nostalgic feelings for simpler times. We still love our modern conveniences and technology, but touches of nostalgia, whether it’s familial, cultural or even spiritual, have a way of bringing the happiness and perspective back to the forefront.
Former Brand Director at eBay UK and author of PenguinKind, 501 small sustainable actions under $100, Carolyn Managh dreams of a world where retailers stock new and nearly new alongside each other, to help address the massive climate crisis that is already starting to have devastating effects on the world. The preloved x new model is slowly starting to happen in the top end of the market, at the likes of Selfridges London, FarFetch, Mara Hoffman, and Galleries Lafayette in Paris. However, their price points are often inaccessible for the average person.
To be part of the solution, Carolyn decided to reinvent the secondhand shop into retail heaven. Gold Leaf is a shopping model that puts reasonably priced new, near new, and pristine pre-loved all in one retail space. Our products are mostly one-offs, including many special gems that rarely come up for sale.
*
PRISTINE PRE-LOVED
Many of our preloved items are being sold on behalf of clients; sitting under Gold Leaf's preloved brand, Phyllis & Ollie; named after Carolyn Managh's grandmother and great aunt who were lifetime makers and bakers. These treasures are usually one-offs and often rare. We think of ourselves as design anthropologists; digging up the origin, back-stories and true value of each item, in order to price accordingly.
Pre-loved items go through our restoration process to ensure they are as close to original new as possible by the time they go into the store. All electrical appliances are electrician tested to ensure full operational working condition.
Typically, we only stock highly pristine pre-loved items or those that can be restored to original pristine condition. However, given the age of some products, it is inevitable that certain small signs of wear cannot be recovered. In these instances, we will clearly identify the location and extent of this wear, so that you can make informed decisions with no surprises.