The 27 -year -old fashion designer spends much of her time looking for special clothes – but not from the new collections, but from used shops, especially online.

“It’s something like a digital treasure hunt“, Says Leoni. Searching with the right key words one can find amazing things.

Used clothes again in the spotlight

Leoni is not the only one in which vintage clothes are very much liked. Especially for young people aged 15 to 30 of the so-called Gen-Z, vintage has now become mainstream.

Used clothes have always been fashionable to young people, but with the expansion of online trade, second-hand shops have also experienced unprecedented growth-and now the clothes sold are not characterized as “second hand” but as “preloved” or “vintage”-a term that gives a sense of exclusive and frequently justified.

Why is vintage so attractive?

According to fashion journalist Valentina Herbort, vintage clothing is an integral part of the uniqueness of young people, in the sense that today Gen-Z has-due to globalization-much more clothing selection opportunities and therefore every young person can specifically shape his own and special clothing.

In the digital age, trends are spreading and prevailing very quickly-which is why Zara, for example, have 100 products available, they are constantly sold the same 20. Therefore many people end up having a very similar style-and this is quite a lot of Gen-Z young people.

In addition, as Herbort explains, the quality of the product is important for young people. And the quality difference between older and modern clothes is obvious. So by buying vintage the young people “buy something better and even at a lower price”.

The new generation also plays a role in the sustainability and conditions of production of clothes – after all, the Fast Fashion industry has been criticizing for years for miserable working conditions, low wages and environmental contamination. This does not mean, of course, that quick fashion is completely absent from thrift shops. And anyway even in used clothes there are trends that follow one another.

More than a fashion?

Valentina Herbort, however, believes that enthusiasm with vintage clothes is a very positive development in sustainability. Certainly there are people who buy vintage in addition to the clothes they get from modern chains, but they are the minority. “I think we are at a social turning point. People find the advantages of quality second hand clothes and decide in the long run to prefer vintage instead of fast fashion, “Herbort said.

Curated by: George Passas