BENGALURU : ne man’s trash is another’s treasure, they say. This surely seems to be true for Disha Pai (21), who recently founded an Instagram thrift store called Phirki. The student at Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology has been upcycling clothes into pieces of “sustainable, pre-loved fashion” – think tie-and-dye tops, kurtas turned into skirts and jeans into shorts – for some months now. “I collect clothes from donation drives and rework them for my store. Usually, the pieces I put up on Instagram are gone in 15-20 minutes,” says Pai, who earns close to `22,000 a month from her “side business”.
Different from a regular retail store, these online stores sell “thrifted” pieces for a fraction of the price and are each, in their own way, fighting the damage caused by fast fashion, which is said to be a big polluter. “Thrifting is wearing and circulating what already exists,” says Aparna Balasubramanian, who runs The Fine Finds. “These clothes come to you from the decade they were made in.
They’re ‘old’, but somehow fresh in today’s fashion landscape. You’re buying something cheaper, more durable, and something that directly challenges fast fashion,” explains the 22-year-old, whose store has over 10,000 followers on Instagram. The various items of clothing, tops, skirts, sweaters, dresses, are sold at prices ranging from `499 to `1,899.
A popular concept in the West (most thrifters claim to have first learned of the concept through YouTube videos put up by USA-based bloggers), thrifting is picking up pace in India too. Interestingly, the pandemic played a part as well. After years of collecting thrifted pieces, Divya Runwal started her store - Rafu (meaning ‘to mend’) - with Pranavi Nanjappa in June this year.
“The lockdown made me realise it’s never too late to start something to make an impact,” says Runwal. Pai, who also started her store in April, adds, “The government ban on websites like Shein prompted people to turn towards thrift stores in search of cheap, durable clothing.” While Pai relies on donation drives, Runwal has been selling pieces that she collected from thrift stores she comes across during her international trips.
“These are vintage clothes from the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s, which are now in fashion. Some of these pieces may have a few minor defects, but largely, they are original and of premium quality, because they were made before the era of mass production,” says Runwal. Balasubramanian, on the other hand, has tied up with vendors of second-hand clothing. “This clothing comes from thrift stores in the US, Korea, Japan and other parts of the world,” she says.
Most of these stores operate on Insta, which, thrifters believe, allows for transparency. Owners usually announce “drops” on their Insta stories a day prior so customers know when to expect new clothes. Most even have post notifications switched on for their favourite thrift stores – a feature that comes in handy especially since sometimes, the items get picked up within minutes.
“All one has to do is comment on the post with the piece and whoever does so first gets the product. It’s fair and transparent,” explains Runwal. Given that most of these stores operate only on Instagram, it’s no surprise that their buyers fall within the age group of 18-35 years. They don’t seem to mind that these clothes are “pre-loved”. Entrepreneur Abheet Anand (25), who has thrifted from various stores, including one from Manipur, says, “When you buy clothes off the rack, you tend to hold them in high regard.
But second-hand clothes have more character and there’s less fear about wearing or staining them. Sometimes you can tell these clothes are worn-in because the colour may not be as rich, but that’s a compromise you make.” He adds: “Besides, where else will you find something like the Pablo Picasso Collage Merchandised Tee from the Tate Museum in London for less than `1,000? It’s great to see clothes from random parts of the world ending up in my closet.”
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