FASHION FORWARD FASHION FORWARD FASHION FORWARD Gen Z Politics and the Rise of Thrifting BY CALEB DUNSON
The sign looked as though someone had taken the sides of several steel shipping containers, painted them with the brightest hue of red known to man, and hoisted them on the walls of an old factory building. “Village DISCOUNT OUTLET” was plastered in white across the building’s steel paneling, each letter appearing as if it had been stolen from a different restaurant sign. I stepped inside and was choked by the smell of stale clothing. Racks of old jeans, jackets, shirts, and sweaters lined the walls while other garments lay strewn haphazardly in
white bins. Hipster teenagers were scattered across the warehouse-sized building. This was my first time shopping at a major thrift store, and I had no clue what I was doing. But I knew that all of the cool kids were doing it, and I knew that my friend, who had navigated us to her favorite thrifting spot, was eagerly awaiting the hunt for interesting clothing finds. According to NPR, the thrifting industry, which is currently worth $28 billion, is projected to eclipse the so-called “fast fashion” market by 2029. The industry’s precipitous rise has been largely driven by Gen-
eration Z. Refinery29 reports that “an estimated 46% of Gen Z shopped secondhand in 2019, according to Medium, compared to 37% of millennials and just 18% of Gen X.” But what is the allure of shopping for used clothing? And why does it matter? Clothes are integral to how we perform our identity. They are one of the primary tools we use to influence how people perceive our values and our social status. Think of how suits have been “historically associated with projecting elegance, authority, and mastery of a profession,” or how people buy designer clothes to 13
