How the pandemic has triggered a shift to thrift
US social commerce marketplace Poshmark is the latest to enter a growing space for pre-loved fashion
Mansi (she uses only her first name) has had her sights set on a Louis Vuitton Neverfull for years, but pocket constraints held her back. Now, with US e-shopping giant Poshmark entering India, she’s hoping she’d get lucky. Since it launched some three weeks ago, she has been religiously scanning the site in the hope of coming across a pre-owed — the preferred term is “pre-loved” — LV Neverfull.
Poshmark, a social commerce marketplace for buying and selling clothes and accessories, both used and new, is the latest addition to India’s booming circular fashion industry.
According to “Unlocking the Future of Commerce in India”, a report by Bain & Company in collaboration with Sequoia, “social commerce, which is a $1.5 billion to $2 billion GMV (gross merchandise value) market today, will be worth $16 billion to $20 billion in just five years—and will likely hit $60 billion to $70 billion by 2030. In short, India’s social commerce sector will be two times the size of the current e-commerce market within ten years.”
Social commerce refers to selling products directly on social media. And thrift pages, where one can buy and sell pre-loved clothes, largely operate on these platforms. The number of such pages on sites such as Instagram has multiplied during the pandemic, as purses shrank but not the desire to shop.
Thrift pages regularly announce “drops” where clothes are put on sale. The catch is that there is mostly just one piece of each article. Hence, Mansi’s need to stay alert.
Pritika Rao, who runs _all things preloved, which has over 2,500 followers on Instagram, held her first offline thrift sale at BKC Mumbai on March 8, 2020, where the stock sold out on the first day. Barely two weeks later, as the Covid-19 lockdown came into place, Rao moved online.
She believes that in many ways the pandemic has aided the thrift market, with people looking to rotate their wardrobes. “The pandemic has allowed people the time to rethink their personal styles,” she says. “Another reason why thrifting has gained momentum is because people have gone through physical transformations. They need different sizes, and getting good quality, affordable pieces from thrift stores is a big plus.”
Rao says 95 per cent of the clothes on her page are sourced from personal wardrobes of people; the remaining are simply donated to her to be sold off further. The pricing of these clothes, she adds, depends on their condition and brand.
Social media influencer Prapti B Elizabeth, who often shops from Instagram thrift pages, says that being able to get your hands on unique pieces is an advantage.
The central government’s crackdown on Chinese apps, including Shein, a platform for buying affordable trendy clothes, in June 2020 also narrowed choices for consumers, thus giving the circular fashion circuit a boost.
A growing concern for the environment has also pushed consumers to seek sustainable alternatives to fast fashion.
Sanskriti Sharma from Hyderabad, who first started browsing and buying from Instagram thrift stores in late 2019, now sees a barrage of thrift pages on the platform. “We’ve all used our cousin’s clothes, our mother’s saris; so there really is no shame in buying anything pre-loved. I have recently become very conscious about my consumption and buying from fast fashion brands or online portals like Zara or H&M,” she says. “Just one pair of jeans consumes thousands of litres of water and other resources (see box), and I don’t want to add to the burden on nature.”
Having turned vegan in 2017, Mumbai-based psychotherapist Nishi Joshi, too, made the shift to thrift for similar reasons.
Dolce Vee Love, a popular thrift page on Instagram with 117,000 followers, is known for its celebrity popup charity closet and mass market sales. Komal Hiranandani, who earlier worked with IDFC Institute, started Dolce Vee Love to promote sustainability and the circular fashion movement. “I was always looking to do something that could move the needle on things. Pre-loved is one such area where even a small behavioural change can have a huge positive social impact,” she says.
Actor Amrita Puri, who collaborated with Dolce Vee Love recently, adds, “When I was introduced to the concept of charity thrift sales, I thought it was a great way to support my chosen NGO, World For All, which works for animal welfare. It's wonderful to know that pieces that you may not be doing justice to in your wardrobe will find a home with someone who will use them more, while supporting a cause.”
Stylist Namita Alexander, who also opened up her closet for others to thrift from, agrees. “Stylists,” she says, “should lead the way in showing people how clothing can be a rewarding form of self-expression, while also respecting our environment. I have enjoyed vintage and thrift shopping myself, and decided to open my closet for a charity sale.”
The process of resale continues to be logistically intensive with stores having to take care of everything from cleaning to photography. While profit margins remain slim at the moment, thrift stores are hoping to scale up sales soon.
According to online consignment and thrift store thredup’s 2021 resale report, the global second-hand market is projected to double in the next five years, reaching $77 billion. As many as 33 million consumers bought secondhand apparel for the first time in 2020, of which 76 per cent buyers plan to increase their spend in the next five years. According to the report, resale is projected to grow 5.4 per cent in five years.