The anti-fast fashion movement has gained immense traction. We all know the perils that fast fashion is inflicting on underage workers across the planet and on the planet itself. We slip on our charity shop jeans with self-righteousness, satisfied with the knowledge that we donate to charity, save the planet, and look fabulous all at the same time. However, the war against fast fashion still rages on. Although some of us want to start thrifting more, the bulk of clothes we purchase are still bought from the monster of fast fashion. Why? Because people don’t have time or energy to peruse around charity shops. People want trendy and affordable garments quickly, and digging around fruitlessly in a frumpy charity shop or perusing in an overpriced vintage boutique in Camden rarely achieve all these aims. In reality, if someone has a job interview tomorrow or a pink-themed party on Friday, they are more likely to go to their local Primark, or Amazon Prime online, to be sure that they find what they need, rather than face the uncertainty of second-hand shopping.
However hard we try to encourage shopping second hand, not everyone in the world will magically start to enjoy thrifting and will continue to even find it easier than simply shopping from their usual high street brands. Many don’t know where to start and know that when they walk into a high street shop, they will most likely find something they like, that’s affordable and their size. There are more options on sites such as Vinted and Depop, as you have sales from across the country and thus can offer a lot more choice, however, with these shopping platforms, speedy delivery and a good fit are never guaranteed . Although I personally enjoy the unpredictable chaos of Vinted, I understand this is not for those who may just be looking for something specific that they know will fit them, neither of which are a given with online shopping.
It is time to rethink how second-hand fashion is being sold, so we are able to go forward into making it the default for everyone. Patrick Grant from the Great British Sewing Bee reminded us that there are enough garments to clothe the next six generations of the human race. The fact is new clothes do not need to be produced. It’s time to source and organise these clothes to get them to the people that want them; out of the back of dusty closets and into the hands of those who truly need them. If we encouraged regular clear-outs of unwanted clothes and created a centralised place where people can take their old clothes in exchange for money, where this could then be sorted and put out online or in stores, then just maybe second-hand shopping would be as easy as, or even easier than, high-street shopping. My inspiration comes from the brand ‘Nearly New Cashmere’ which I came across through an Instagram ad recently. It is a company that sells second-hand, affordable cashmere that has been reworked and is sold in standardised categories of colour and size, much like a first-hand fashion brand. My mum has never even attempted Vinted (despite my persistent nudges to convince her) as she can’t try anything on and simply finds it overstimulating in general – as many do – but she found that this brand had all the calming quality of the M&S website, but with even cheaper and more sustainable garments! What if this format could exist for all clothes, not just overpriced vintage? You could quickly search: v-neck jumper, green, wool, size medium, and simply order it then and there, inflicting far less ecological damage.
This model could also take the form of high-street stores so that this would become the go-to way that people buy their last-minute fashion needs. When I lived in Estonia for a year, the shop Humana became the love of my life, mainly for its affordability and unbelievable range, and it showed me how a second shop could serve this purpose effectively. It had such a huge range of clothes with rails organised meticulously into white vest tops, then yellow vest tops and so on. They also had a method of reducing the price every few days in a monthly cycle so that even the unwanted garments were gone by the end at the price of only 1 euro! I would go there if I needed, say, a blue floral shirt for a costume (when I was forced by my teacher to dress up as Anna Akhmatova for a poetry recital, if you must know) with the comfort of knowing Humana would have exactly what I was looking for. This range was a far cry from the miserable, unpredictable array that the Oxford charity shops have to offer, or – even worse – the overpriced snobbery of most vintage shops in the UK. There was such an effectively organised quantity of clothing, that finding specific garments was actually made easier and cheaper than going into a fast fashion shop.
So that’s my idea for how to make searching for second hand fashion a less eclectic and over stimulating experience, to essentially make it the default. Maybe it’s as silly as the Russians thinking collectivising property would be a good idea in 1917, but maybe if this collectivisation was done with expertise and a focus on the planet, not profits for those on top, it will start to steadily undo the accelerating madness of the fast fashion industry.