September 18, 2024
SINGAPORE – New-age thrift stores here have come under scrutiny in recent months after several were accused of masquerading new clothes from fast fashion sources as second-hand ones.
Fast fashion refers to low-quality apparel that is rapidly produced to follow current industry trends.
Stores selling a mix of new and second-hand clothes fought back against the allegations, saying they had never claimed to be thrift stores – despite many shoppers assuming so.
The incidents sparked two questions within the community: What is the true definition of “thrift”? And have the once-noble motivations of thrifting gone awry?
The evolution of thrifting
Several patrons of thrift shops The Straits Times spoke to, who have been thrifting for at least five years, remember a time when these were meant to provide those with lower incomes affordable second-hand items.
Thrift stores were traditionally charity shops such as The Salvation Army, which sold donated items, or eclectic ones lining old malls with piles of second-hand clothing.
Thrift shops later gained momentum with younger folk, especially the environmentally conscious, as an affordable means to reuse existing clothes and reduce waste generated by the fashion industry.
Most thrifted clothes traditionally sell for under $5 per item.
On occasion, there are gems, such as vintage pieces, hidden within the heaps of unsorted clothing. Long-time thrifters herald this as one of its biggest draws.
“There’s definitely more digging you need to do, but I enjoy the hunt and it makes finding something good that much more special,” said fashion undergraduate Ho Swee Chin, 20.
The caveat? It is time-consuming to embark on this “treasure hunt” to unearth them.
But those who are newer to the game, while appreciative of the thrifted aesthetic and its social goals, view the hunt as more of a pain point.
Event coordinator Ashley Phoon, who has been thrifting for a year, said she hardly visits traditional thrift stores, as she gets overwhelmed by the amount of clothes.
“I don’t have the time and patience to sift through every item one by one,” the 25-year-old said, adding that she admires those who score good finds.
Instead, she leans more towards what is known as “curated thrift”.
Such stores offer carefully curated second-hand apparel, which tend to be pricier due to the lengths owners go to handpick each piece.
Pivoting from thrifting’s charity-based roots towards for-profit business models, some of these stores start prices from around $30.
Typically youth-led, many have a keen awareness of current trends and have gained popularity in recent years.
Most source their inventory from other thrift stores or import second-hand clothing in bulk before sifting out the best picks, offering time-strapped customers sustainable options without the effort.
Research analyst Mahika Ravishankar prefers traditional thrift stores, but said of curated ones: “As long as these shops are able to divert customers who would have otherwise bought fast fashion to more sustainable options, it’s a win.”
Still, some consumers like Ms Chloe Chang consider only stores associated with charity or goodwill initiatives to be “real” thrift stores.
“I don’t believe that thrifted clothes should be expensive, which many curated stores tend to be,” the 23-year-old said.
The Society of St Vincent de Paul thrift shop was started in 2019 to ensure a sustainable stream of income for the needy. PHOTO: THE STRAITS TIMES
A definition increasingly muddled
Rework in Progress (RIP) Thrift Store owners Xara Cynara and Lee Lin Wei said consumers have different expectations of thrift stores due to an increasingly convoluted understanding of what thrifting is.
While “thrift” comes from the word “thrifty”, many have come to fold vintage shopping under the same umbrella.
Vintage shopping generally involves pre-loved designer and archival clothes. The curation and cleaning processes are more careful, making them more expensive.
Some consumers said they also believe reworked fashion, which is when pieces are revamped or made from existing fabrics, also falls within the thrift category.
Vintagewknd is one pioneer of the local reworked fashion scene, starting as a vintage store in 2015 before adding reworked collections in 2018.
Today, it has reimagined and rehomed over 50 tonnes of textile waste while working towards being a key fast fashion alternative.
Vintagewknd co-founder and creative director Eileen Tay said it consciously offers affordable pieces to convert more customers into sustainable shoppers.
Its items range from $10 vintage blouses to $200 dresses upcycled from luxury silk scarf textiles.
Beyond being friendly on the wallet, RIP’s Mr Lee said the clearest indicator of “true” thrift is whether it gives back to the community.
For instance, the Society of St Vincent de Paul thrift shop (SSVP Shop) was started in 2019 to ensure a sustainable stream of income for the needy, said SSVP president Lucy Cher.
Run by 80 volunteers and stocked only with donated items, its proceeds go to some 3,400 beneficiaries across Singapore.
“The thrift shop offers affordable, quality items for the family, including the low-income, where all shoppers can browse in comfort with dignity,” said Ms Cher, adding that it is also a reprieve for unwanted goods to be reused.
At RIP, which was started by Mr Lee, Ms Cynara and Ms Christine Hee in 2021, efforts are brewing to grow the brand while remaining true to thrifting’s original intentions.
Its items range from $1 to an average maximum of $25, and it donates 30 per cent of its net profits each month to charity.
Run by 80 volunteers and stocked only with donated items, SSVP Shop’s proceeds go to some 3,400 beneficiaries across Singapore. PHOTO: THE STRAITS TIMES
Why people thrift today
Dr Hannah Chang, associate professor of marketing at the Lee Kong Chian School of Business, said there is an increasing emphasis on businesses’ social goals, such as environmental sustainability, charity and larger corporate social responsibility.
“However, for many consumers and across many situations, other factors are weighed more heavily, such as economic considerations,” she said.
Most thrift shoppers told ST they stumbled into the lifestyle while on the hunt for cheap yet unique clothing while schooling, with sustainability being an added bonus.
Ms Ravishankar, who started thrifting when she was 15, said she did so as she was dissatisfied with the quality of fast fashion options.
But sustainability soon became a driving factor.
She said: “The processes that go into creating fast fashion and wreck the environment also create clothes that look and feel sub-par at best.
“If I can fulfil the same sartorial or functional needs with a more environmentally friendly option, why wouldn’t I?”
For Mr Brian Quek, the social goals of a store are rarely on his mind.
The 24-year-old said: “I do think about putting these clothes to good use whenever I buy something, but it is never at the forefront.”
But there is no wrong or right reason to thrift, said Ms Ravishankar. “Some do it because it is accessible, some do it because they love a good deal, some do it because they love finding one-of-a-kind pieces, and some do it because they can’t find their size in-store.”
Neck ties upcycled into belts and other wearable items at the SSVP Shop. PHOTO: THE STRAITS TIMES
Has overconsumption seeped into the scene?
Ms Cynara feels the local thrift scene has also abandoned another key tenet – mindful consumerism.
Mindful consumerism means being conscious of the impact one’s purchases have on the environment and labour, and resisting the desire to possess unnecessary items.
Ms Ravishankar said fashion companies play a huge role by stoking this desire with smart marketing.
With thrifting, she said: “The clothes sold by these charity shops aren’t hyped by the companies that produced them, so you’re not as pressured or influenced to buy them.”
Ironically, some consumers said the thrifting culture’s popularity these days is now contributing to overconsumption.
Ms Chloe Chang said she has come across many who buy trendy clothes from thrift shops but wear them only once or twice before discarding them.
Others said some thrift shops also play into this by having clearance sales, which encourage shoppers to buy without considering how much use these clothes will actually get.
Another thrifter, Ms Ellen Chee, a 26-year-old video content producer, said: “Since it’s cheap and seemingly better for the environment, it’s easy to get carried away and overbuy when you go thrifting.”
This, arts programmer Charmaine Teo said, risks falling into “virtue signalling” territory – modelling beliefs one might not genuinely be living out.
The 23-year-old added that curated stores often attempt to appeal to specific trends, which are inherently fleeting.
“It’s a lot better to do this than participating in fast fashion, but I think people need to return to the point of why they are buying clothes,” she said, adding that the “treasure hunt” factor in traditional thrifting may help with this.
“All that time taken to look through makes you reconsider if you actually want to be shopping.”
People shopping at the Unique Collection SG thrift store. PHOTO: THE STRAITS TIMES
Businesses grow as culture thrives
Ms Cher of SSVP said the proliferation of new thrifting stores and weekend markets shows that the culture is “undoubtedly thriving”.
“Hopefully, this will become a permanent cultural shift towards the normalisation of thrifting rather than a flash in the pan.”
Owner of TwoWorlds thrift and consignment store Jesselyn Ni said curated stores play a vital role in ensuring this cultural shift.
The 21-year-old started her curated store at Golden Landmark Shopping Complex in 2023, and also rents the space to other thrift stores.
While sustainability is a key consideration for herself, she does not discriminate against thrift stores that lean more towards a profit motive and does not prevent them from consigning with her.
“The profit should definitely be there to incentivise people to join the market,” she said, adding that the growing number of curated stores continues to attract new consumers to try buying items second-hand.
RIP Thrift Store was started by (from left) Ms Christine Hee, Mr Lee Lin Wei and Ms Xara Cynara in 2021. PHOTO: THE STRAITS TIMES
RIP is one brand which consigns at TwoWorlds.
“All of our clothes are curated to some extent, but we try our best to curate it in a way where it includes most of the styles or demographics,” said Ms Hee, one of the owners.
Overconsumption, she said, is not easy to define.
While owning a lot of clothes may seem excessive to those who dress more simply, the same number of pieces may be well used by the fashionably adventurous who enjoy layering, she said.
She added that businesses need to take responsibility for their initiatives while catering to consumer preferences.
“We carry all these pieces, but we also try our best not to promote the idea that you have to buy everything to make a certain outfit.”
Ms Hee, whose mother runs thrift store Unique Collection, first joined RIP as a supplier while looking for a way to extend the life of surplus clothes from her mother’s store.
Unique Collection is a moving store housed at different markets in Housing Board estates and its clothes typically go for around $5.
Having been around for almost 10 years, co-owner Terence Seah said the bulk of his customers used to be domestic helpers.
In the last four years, however, more office workers and older women have begun to flock to the store.
The 52-year-old said he continues to keep prices low, as it has become a passion of his to help customers save money while providing one-of-a-kind outfits.
Profits are thus made on the volume of clothes sold and he stocks the store by buying 100kg bales of second-hand clothes.
About 30 per cent of the stock tends to go unsold, which he typically donates to needy children overseas, textile recyclers – and now, RIP.
People shopping at Unique Collection on Sept 13. PHOTO: THE STRAITS TIMES
RIP’s owners said their dreams go beyond being just a thrift store.
“We also want to educate the masses and run workshops to help people manage their own threat (to the environment),” Ms Cynara said.
The trio run Telegram group Thrift.sg, through which they aim to make buying second-hand more accessible by sharing good finds on e-commerce platform Carousell and thrifting events.
It promotes mindful consumption by encouraging people to share such finds with others if the pieces are not in their size or style, said Ms Cynara.
RIP has also worked with fashion designers to upcycle unwanted clothes, and plan to create infographics and articles to spread awareness about such options and fashion’s role in exacerbating environmental crises.
“Ultimately, we want to activate the community and that is something we’ve been trying to build as we go on,” Ms Hee said.