"Seapunk or ghettogoth... the mindset is the same." Simon Beckerman understood that fashion subcultures needed their own space to buy and sell.

From Magazines to Marketplaces

Simon Beckerman's entrepreneurial journey started with PIG, a quarterly magazine dedicated to discovering new talent in the 1990s. He then founded a glasses brand with his brother in 2006.

In 2011, he saw an opportunity: social media was changing how people discovered fashion, but there wasn't a good way to buy and sell clothes socially.

Building for Gen Z

Depop launched as a mobile peer-to-peer shopping app where users could create virtual stores from their phones. The platform attracted Gen Z users who wanted to buy and sell vintage clothing and create their own brands.

The key insight was combining social media mechanics (following, liking, sharing) with commerce. Users didn't just list items - they built audiences.

21 Million Users

By focusing on community and making selling feel like curating a social media profile, Depop grew to more than 21 million users buying and selling vintage and streetwear daily.

The platform became the largest fashion marketplace online for younger users, beating incumbents who focused on transactions rather than community.

The $1.6 Billion Exit

In 2021, Etsy acquired Depop for $1.6 billion (£1.25 billion) - recognizing that capturing the next generation of sellers required a social-first approach.

Simon, who experienced burnout during the intense growth period, has since started a new venture called Delli, bringing the same community-first approach to independent food retailers.