Gen Z’s Thrifty Take on Fashion
I remember the first time I walked into my local Goodwill back in high school in 2011. I walked out with two huge bags of clothing finds that I was excited to style for the next few months. I also remember my mother’s expression of bemusement and slight disapproval when she saw me hauling my goods to my room.
“Why do you like shopping there?” she asked while wrinkling her nose at the smell of stale, used clothing wafting through the hallway.
“Because it’s cool, mom.” I stated matter-of-factly and carried on unearthing the treasures I had bought.
I didn’t know it at the time, but I was joining a growing population of young consumers that had begun to appreciate the magic of secondhand shopping, more casually known as thrifting. I also didn’t know that I was contributing to the slow but steady disruption of the fashion industry as we currently know it. I was shopping secondhand because more than anything else, I craved to distinguish myself from the crowd and carve out a distinct identity for myself.
Generation Z’s ideology of bucking conformity in favor of individualism has given the thrifting industry an almost overnight revival. With social media providing these digital natives access to different styles, looks, and even subcultures, the desire to fit in does not exist in the same way it did in previous generations. To Gen Z, individual identity is everything. ThredUp, a resale website, reported that 40% of 18 to 24-year-old consumers shopped secondhand in 2017 and also found that the secondhand industry was growing 24 times faster than traditional retail. Depop, a secondhand resale app and my personal go-to for styling inspo, reported that a stunning 80% of its users are under the age of 25. Why? While resale apps like ThredUp and Poshmark focus on reselling gently-used well-known labels like Kate Spade or J.Crew, Depop enables users to resell non-mainstream, retro labels and also style and model pieces in unexpected, interesting ways that catch the eye of younger audiences that want to avoid looking like a carbon copy of their peers.
To bring it down to more tangible level, I had the opportunity to interview a few Gen Z-ers for my graduate thesis earlier this year. One of my respondents identified as a black gay male that uses Depop as a way to combine modeling and storytelling, and another defined herself as a “creator of aesthetics” by using Depop and her YouTube channel to showcase her work. Both admitted that thrifting is their preferred option because it “provides uniqueness and edge” in their personal style and gives them the chance to purchase items that other people won’t have. Their fashion choices are tied directly to how they have framed their unique identities.
I am delighted to note that the secondhand trend isn’t going away anytime soon especially as the spending power of Generation Z continues to reach its full potential. In addition, I can proudly say that seven years post-high school, 85% of my closet is still vintage or locally thrifted. If they aren’t already, fashion retailers should be taking avid notes. On a larger scale, brands overall should consider the long-term implications of a generation that values and differentiates itself so vastly in identity and interests.
