BY SKYLER PRIETO
Business Manager
Thrift shopping is a trend that always finds a way to re-emerge every couple of years, taking control of the fashion industry with its rapidly growing popularity. We saw this occur first-hand in 2021 with Tik Tok, an increasingly popular social media app, being the culprit of this period’s thrifting craze. Its users posting thrift-hauls, getting their millions of viewers intrigued in the world that is thrift shopping.
Fashion industries follow what is popular. When they see their customers raving online about the vintage fashions they unearthed from the depths of a thrift store, they are bound to
follow, as where there is interest there is money. Although the very basis of the thrift shopping trend is to be able to buy cool clothes for cheap, every piece being unique prohibits many from acquiring clothing that catches their eye. Someone may snag it before them and the chances of finding more than one of the same item are slim. This scenario is the ideal situation for the fashion industry, as it is the perfect opportunity for them to provide to their customers what thrift stores cannot: the mass production of new clothing inspired by popular thrift store finds.
Big-name brands are putting out more variations of the 90’s wide-leg jeans, the early 2000’s graphic baby t-shirts, and the 60’s and 70’s bohemian-like patterns than we’ve seen since the era in which these styles were initially popular. This reemergence in fashion would not have occurred if it were not for society deciding to scour the depths of thrift stores in search of their dream closets.
