By ZAKARY SONNTAG, Deseret News
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The latest fashion trends are nothing new.
More Utahns are buying used clothing from bygone eras as a way to be environmentally sustainable, financially sound and stand out in the era of big-box fashion, the Deseret News reported.
“It’s cheaper, higher quality and much more exclusive. No one is going to wear this dress to the concert you’re going to,” said Jacqueline Whitmore, owner of Copperhive Vintage, twirling a 1960s floral print floor-length dress. “This dress is 60 years old and still looks amazing. People are starting to get it.”
Whitmore, whose Copperhive embraces a mid-century aesthetic with bold florals and fitted, flared dresses, is among a growing cohort of vintage retailers that have helped make the Beehive State a thrift destination.
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In recent years, secondhand has become the first priority for more shoppers, who sought out vintage retailers when supply chain issues and economic uncertainty from the COVID-19 pandemic made buying new less appealing. Now retailers think the new customers are here to stay.
“I’ve seen a lot more first-time customers. When they didn’t find what they wanted from Nordstrom, or what they ordered took too long to arrive, they come here for wedding attire or special celebration attire, and even younger shoppers look for prom attire,” said Whitmore, who found her way to vintage as a plus-size person in search of fashion that fit her.
Despite windfalls from the pandemic, vintage has been on the rise for nearly a decade, fueled in large part by a new generation of environmentally conscious buyers who say buying secondhand, known as “upcycled,” is a a fundamental tool in the fight against climate change, and the most immediate way to put a dubious fast fashion industry in check.
“I feel better in my soul using something that is not so bad for the environment. Buying used is a drop in the bucket, but it’s something I have control over,” said Taylor Litwin, managing director of the Cottonwood Canyons Foundation, which she tries to buy exclusively secondhand. “It’s obvious how much pollution we’re creating, so if I can reduce it somehow, I’ll try.”
According to research cited in outlets such as Bloomberg Business and the Columbia Climate School, today’s fashion industry “is responsible for 10% of man-made greenhouse gas emissions and 20% of global wastewater, and uses more energy than the aviation and shipping sectors combined. .”
“It’s amazing to consider how much water it takes to make a pair of jeans. Then there are the emissions from shipping textiles from one side of the world to the other. That’s why so much of our younger clientele is pushing for sustainability,” said Whitmore, owner of Copperhive.
Popular new platforms like Display Copy are emerging to promote vintage as a way to “protect and express yourself without causing more harm to our planet.”
And now, even established fashion brands are starting to join the upcycle movement, including Levis Secondhand, the jean giant’s new program that buys used clothes to reuse and resell.
While commitments like the Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action signal the willingness of big players to reform into the future, many consumers are trying to mitigate the impacts by looking back, and they’re finding plenty to work with in Utah.
In a converted historic bungalow at 1100 East in the Sugar House, a thrift store called Rewind specializes in fashion from the 1990s and Y2K era, with items like Carhartt housekeeping coats and cozy, ripped flannels, which they sell to a predominantly millennial clientele that may or may not have been around when the styles debuted.
The turn of the 20th century is currently the dominant fashion in the Utah used clothing market, and it’s a trend Rewind owner Edgar Gerardo saw before the curve.
Gerardo, who immigrated to Los Angeles with his family as a child, said he developed an eye for vintage trends out of necessity. As a Mexican immigrant in Los Angeles, obtaining and selling used items was one of the few opportunities available to earn money, he said.
“No one would hire you if you were an immigrant in Los Angeles in the 90s. This was the only thing our family could do, buy and sell at flea markets. Little by little we learned what is popular, what sells. It’s a normal immigrant story,” she said.
When the economy crashed in 2008, he moved his family to Utah, where he initially planned to make a living “doing regular jobs.” But then he discovered a treasure trove of untapped savings.
“I didn’t know this place was full of vintage. And nobody was choosing it, so I went back to what I know: choosing vintage clothes and anything I could make money with,” Gerardo said.
At first I was part of a small group that chose for resale. But that changed around 2015 when crop demand exploded.
“At first it was me and maybe three other guys. Now you go to Deseret Industries or Savers or any of the thrift stores in town, and it’s full of kids trying to pick out clothes to resell. It has caused prices to go up everywhere,” she said.
Gerardo says that the current vibe for upcycled clothing began in the Japanese and British subcultures, which started gaining attention in the states around 2015. From then on, vintage found endorsements from famous influencers and the trend took off in the whole country.
An example of the impact of influencers is seen in the market for band t-shirts, which began appearing on high-profile social media accounts around 2015. A celebrity’s seal of approval amplified the demand for wearable products from music groups like Metallica, a metal group from the 1980s, whose shirts Gerardo has seen sell for up to $500.
“You figure things like that wouldn’t be worth much, but then some celebrity or influencer uses it and the cost skyrockets,” he said.
For this reason, Gerardo is wary of those who say they buy used for environmental reasons because he believes that the phenomenon is above all about basic consumer trends.
In recent years there has been an avalanche of vintage-inspired social media accounts. However, those in Utah’s thrift scene say this new crop of influencers is part of an ecosystem that operates on different principles, emphasizing community while celebrating individual expression.
Hannah Ruth Zander is an up-and-coming influencer based in Utah who promotes the vintage industry through her popular Instagram account, where she curates unique outfits from the styles of various eras.
“I describe it as 1960s modernity and modern, with a touch of 18th century fashion. It’s super old, then a little bit newer, then super new. I like the collaboration of these different eras,” he said.
Zander says influencers are playing a big role in encouraging a return to individual expression that has stalled in the stressful pandemic.
“During the pandemic, people were really just wearing athleisure. Since it’s almost over, I think most people don’t even want to look at another pair of sweatpants,” says Zander. “Now that people can finally go out with their friends and wear cute outfits, vintage is a great way to show off their personalities.”
Zander says vintage has become especially relevant alongside the fashion world’s broader embrace of maximalism, an exuberant aesthetic characterized by clashing patterns and bold colors, and a pendulum swinging between subdued ways of dressing during the lockdown.
“With maximalism, the more layers the better, the more color the better, the more pieces you are mixing and the crazier the better. Which vintage is great for because you can mix and match so many different pieces from different eras and it can still be trendy and cohesive,” Zander said. “It’s allowing people to be expressive again, and I think that’s really cool.”
Beyond fostering individual empowerment, Zander, who works as a stylist for small businesses and independent retailers, sees her role as an influencer as a crucial part of the thrift community.
She describes the vintage community as a mutually supportive ecosystem, in which players “sponsor” each other by exchanging services and sharing products for events and other purposes.
“Many of the vintage stores in Utah will share each other’s posts and help each other promote each other, even though they are technically rivals in the sales world. They will even do markets together,” Zander said.
“The big corporations are so focused on beating each other and doing everything they can to eliminate their rivals,” he said. “But in the vintage community people go hand in hand. It is quite wonderful.
The head-to-head dynamic is seen elsewhere in the vintage market in a “buy-sell-trade” model favored by some retailers.
At Pibs Exchange, a secondhand retailer that has a bit of every style from the last half century, shoppers can trade clothes for cash or store credit.
“I love to change my clothes and find something new. That’s my modus operandi,” said Miranda Lewin, who has been buying secondhand for eight years and would rather trade than buy. “I like it because I get very interesting pieces, then I adapt them to the aesthetic that I am looking for at that moment.”
The famous durability of vintage garments makes it possible to keep them in rotation at places like Pibs. But it is also related to the culture of thrifters, who buy items with the understanding that they may not be their last owners.
Lewin, who is a musician with the Utah-based band The Mskings, likes to stop by Pibs before shows for stage-ready outfits.
“Fashion is a big part of how we express ourselves and a big part of the impressions we make, particularly when it comes to first interactions,” said Lewin, who as a musical performer has come to appreciate the power of first impressions. . “And if I find I haven’t worn something in a few months or a year, there’s no need for me to hold on to it. Then I try to recirculate it.”
But more than a unique look, Lewin and others say vintage clothing and the recirculation path also speak to intangible value.
“You look at a jacket right there, and it’s literally from someone’s grandmother’s closet. I could be 50 years old,” Lewin said, alluding to a suede number with a giant sheepskin collar. “This material has its own history and its own character. And when you take on something like that, it becomes part of your character as you add even more to it. You can take something that’s old and make it brand new.”
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Source: www.usnews.com