THE ETHICS OF SECONDHAND

By Antony Tom

Designed by Lydia Hickson

The f ashion industry has seen its growth in its frontier with new technological advancements and new sustainable ideas. However, it has its own drawbacks as well. The wastes produced by the industry are increasing with each passing year and have also resulted with increase in the environmental pollution as well. According to Earth.org, “of the 100 billion garments produced each year, 92 million tonnes end up in landfills”. With the pattern followed by the industry, the increase in garments has grown in the past few years and if this continues, it will result in the increase of the garments going into the landfills and may reach further unmanageable levels.

The consumers have also become conscious of the impact on the environment. Shopping secondhand for vintage clothing has resulted in the decrease in the amount of clothes that go into landfills. Therefore, buying pre-owned clothes can be a more ethical method used to combat environmental pollution within the fashion sector.The increasing price of commodities has also affected the way in which consumers are thinking, leading to the increase in sales of second-hand and vintage clothes.

Buying second-hand clothes is becoming more popular with each passing day. The availability of resale platforms has increased the popularity and extended the life of unused clothes in the past few years.The use of resale platforms, such as Vinted and Depop, for the recycling of clothing are being adopted by many. Even companies have started resale platforms which are concentrating on the sales of used clothes, which helps cater to the rising demands of vintage and second-hand clothing to the consumers. Zalando launched a ‘preloved’ platform in September 2020 where consumers can buy and sell used clothing items. By shopping second-hand for vintage clothing, we can reduce the amount of clothes that go into landfills.

Vintage clothing is now very popular among millennials.The style has marked its place on social media with many posting videos and photos on TikTok and Instagram of their new found vintage outfits. Many designers such as punk-revivalist Charles Jeffrey to James Theseus Buck and Luke Brooks of Rottingdean Bazaar are looking to the past for gaining inspiration for their ideas and these ideas have been taken very well by the fashion society as well. However, people still look for authentic secondhand clothes, which can be secured cheaper and may often be more comfortable to wear as well.

However, certain conditions are to be met if consumers need to buy these products. Consumers look at the price and the quality of every product they purchase. Convenience is also essential when customers are looking to buy vintage clothes, in order to influence them that shopping second-hand can be just as easy as shopping high-street. This is essential for the customer, as well as the knowledge that they are shopping sustainably and ethically. Using second-hand and vintage clothing has had an increase in their demand in the market, this is quite evident in the amount of e-commerce sites that have built themselves on second-hand and vintage resales, including spaces like Depop. Even in luxury fashion, do we see a surge in second-hand reselling in which sites such as,Vestiaire Collective caters specifically to second-hand luxury goods or on Farfetch, a luxury retail platform, also having built a pre-owned section for selling second-hand designer items.We hope it will be one of the most effective ways to bring sustainability into all areas of the fashion world .