At one time, Vinted was called Mano drabuziai. And then the international expansion changed everything.
You certainly know Vinted, the platform for selling clothes between individuals. But you probably don’t know his forum, where the discussions of Internet users are not limited to “talking rags”, but where the exchange of views and sex advice also have their place. But what may elude you even more is the origin of the Vinted name.
We must first frame what we are talking about. Vinted is neither a Chinese company nor an American company, but a Lithuanian company! At a time when tech seems to be dominated by an informal duopoly between Washington and Beijing, this should not be overlooked. Because Vinted is today one of the giants of the “second hand”, including in France.
From Mano drabuziai to Vinted
Like other companies before it, Vinted first had the idea of choosing a name adapted to each country where it would be present. Thus, the company was called in Lithuanian “ Mano drabuziai meaning “my clothes” or “my clothes”. It was the same approach that was followed for other markets, such as the Czech Republic or Germany (Kleiderkreisel).
This is what Milda Mitkute, the founder, said in 2016 in an interview with Nordic Business Forum. But as the group’s activities grew and the desire to expand internationally progressed, the decision was made to adopt a unique and global name – and with more English accents as well, to facilitate its adoption in the West. and elsewhere.
The origin of the project comes from Milda Mitkute’s own experience: she moved from her hometown to the capital, Vilnius, for her studies. It was then that she noticed that her closet was full of clothes she no longer wore — some still nearly new, even with tags attached. And the young woman thought she should not be the only one.
In 2008, Milda Mitkute met Justas Janauskas during a housewarming party and it was with him that she launched Vinted. ” I remember talking to him about my idea around 2 a.m., and he said, ‘Why not, we should give it a try’. In two weeks, we therefore created the first version of Vinted and launched it. It was an unexpected success “, she said in 2016.
It is therefore belatedly that the identity of the company is formed – in 2010, the site is launched in the USA with the name of Vinted and three years later it arrives in France. A name that is now applied uniformly everywhere the site operates. The old domain names that were used in each country all redirect to the group name.
