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The impact of second-hand clothing on the textile industry

Second-hand clothes are popular

    According to South Korea’s “Joongang Daily” report, Korean young people accustomed to the sharing economy are increasingly favoring second-hand clothing, and South Korea’s second-hand clothing market is gradually developing.
“Market In U” is a second-hand clothing store with three branches in Seoul. Jin Shengjing, a representative of Market In U, said, “Most people who come to the store for shopping are customers who want to find high-quality products at low prices, and young people who are accustomed to the secondary use and sharing culture.”

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    In foreign countries, the second-hand clothing market has gradually developed into a major trend in clothing market. According to the “Retail Report 2019” released by the online second-hand clothing distributor “thredUP” in the United States, the US second-hand sales market has developed 21 times faster than ordinary fashion retail stores in the past three years. It is estimated that by 2023, the second-hand clothing market will grow. The scale will grow from the current US$24 billion to US$51 billion.

🏃lUnited States: Second-hand luxury goods are popular

🏃‍♂️lKorea’s second-hand clothing market is also gradually developing

🏃‍♀️lSecond-hand clothing is also popular in the African market

United States: The impact of second-hand clothing

The RealReal

    The RealReal, the leading US second-hand luxury e-commerce company, recently reviewed the development and trend of fashion and luxury resale in the past ten years (2010-2019). And it was detailed the most popular items and products in the resale market in the past ten years. The brand summarizes the development trend of the luxury resale market in the past ten years. 

  And also looks forward to the direction of fashion consumption in the next ten years.Rati Levesque, Chief Operating Officer of The RealReal, said, “In the first decade of the 21st century, various fashion trends have come and gone, but the style of Maximalism has always been strong. On The RealReal platform, the style of Maximalism has always been strong. The resale of products is more than three times that of other styles. 

    Streetwear is the hottest in this decade, and the American fashion brand Supreme ranks first on the resale list; Millennials have become consumers in the luxury resale market. The main force and their emphasis on environmental protection also mean a strong momentum for sustainable fashion in the future.”

Supreme

    Resale value list: Fashion brand Supreme tops the list! On The RealReal, the brand with the highest resale value in the past ten years is the New York fashion brand Supreme. The representative apparel product is Box Logo Hoodie sweater, followed by the French luggage brand GOYARD and the single representative product is St. Louis. Special bags ranked third is Van Cleef & Arpels (Van Cleef & Arpels). The representative item is the Alhambra bracelet. The remaining nine brands are Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Rolex, Tiffany&Co., Patek Philippe,  Cartier, Moncler.

South Korea’s second-hand clothing market is also gradually developing.

  The main consumer group in the second-hand clothing market is young people in their early 20s. As the main force of future consumption, this crowd’s preference for the second-hand clothing market is quite worthy of attention. This means that not only do they tend to use less money to buy practical, high-quality clothing, they also show no shy about second-hand products that others have used.

   Jin Shengjing said, “For this generation who are more accustomed to sharing rather than owning, second-hand clothing is just a choice and has no special meaning. They prefer to express themselves through the mix and match rather than wearing clothing with obvious brand styles. Personality”.

Millionarchive

    Zheng Ensong, a representative of Millionarchive, another second-hand clothing store, said, “The media continues to report that celebrities wear second-hand clothing wonderfully, attracting young people to look for interesting and unique designs.” Moreover, buying second-hand clothing also satisfies young consumers’ awareness of environmental protection contributions. When people abandon the fast fashion products that are regarded as the “main culprit” of environmental pollution and look for the “slow fashion” trend of slow life style but value, second-hand clothing has begun to attract attention.

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Second-hand clothing is also popular in the African market.

Mitumba

   In the flea market in Africa, local people said that the most popular item here should be second-hand clothing. The locals are very poor and can’t afford expensive clothing, so second-hand clothing has become the focus of everyone’s attention.
   For example, in Kenya, more than average people are in the low-income group. The slums in the city are quite large. People don’t have any clothes at all. As long as they can wear them, they are already content.

     Cheap second-hand clothing just satisfies them. There is a lot of clothing they need. If you are lucky, you can even buy some brand goods, such as Forever 21, a fast-fashion brand that is not visible in many African cities. Shop, but you may encounter it in the second-hand market.
     In Kenya, this kind of market is called “mitumba.” Some people are looking for items that can keep out the cold and shame, but some people start “Taobao” from it.

Example

  Among them are young people like Kevin Abraham. He is a frequent visitor in this second-hand clothing market. He never only considers the quality of the clothing but also considers how to find a fashionable style. This process is not easy. The things in the market are messy, so Abraham looked for two friends to find suitable clothes to match.
Of course, you must also consider styles, styles, and colors, and then carefully package the clothing you find and take it home. What can I do when I bring back those clothes? 

   They open an online store, match the clothes they bought, and then take photos and put them on the Internet for sale.

Reason

Because they are all blacks, they choose bright colors as the main costume. Although they seem simple, they can set off their handsome and unique temperament. The clothing selection process is also very detailed, paying attention to every detail of the clothing, wear and the shape of the decorations, etc. Even business-style suits will be matched with a complete set. Because the starting price is cheap, and the clothes after careful matching and shooting will attract more people’s attention. When they encounter some brand products, the profit is also considerable, giving them better confidence to start looking for more costumes.

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    And this kind of rich color is especially suitable for the style of the African continent. It uses its own way to deduce a unique fashion concept and therefore attracts a lot of people’s attention. They use the most straightforward time to tell everyone how to love life. There is no gap between people. Just wearing this layer of clothing will bring too many different visual senses to everyone.

The impact of second-hand clothing Conclusion

   Nowadays, in Kenya, they have become well-known clothing matchmakers, but they are still keeping themselves and looking for fashion in the second-hand market. They can even be seen in many overseas magazines! It can be counted as a fashion celebrity coming out of the slums!

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survey questions about second-hand clothes

zagumi hissen

Fei (founder)

10 years of experience in the used clothing industry. Wrote more than 100 research articles on the apparel industry.