SARTORIAL ECONOMICS

Sisters Tashi and Tara Mitra demonstrate to Akanksha Pandey how deviating from the mainstream can bend the way we think, live and dress

- Akanksha Pandey

Thrift fashion is not a new concept; in the past decade, we witnessed how second-hand clothing evolved from being an under-trend to a solution. A couple of years ago, for instance, Lovebirds used to be a vintage shop — until they turned into a brand for minimalist clothing that is at the helm of this fashion subculture today. Amrita Khanna, its co-founder, had launched the store in Delhi in 2010, giving cognisance to a burst of offbeat artists, each one strikingly different in appearance from the other. This was perhaps my first lesson on individuality. As a novice in the magazine business at that time, I was being trained to spot trends, the brands that were designing those trends, and who was influential. I never questioned that line of thought, just followed it. Looking at a reflection of myself in a vintage, white suit with shoulder-pad details (something I could never have discovered in a high street store) was when fashion, for me, became intertwined with the process of self-expression and finding a purpose.

It takes time for audiences to adapt to alternate ideas, and today, we are rethinking our choices and returning to the old ways of making less, buying less, and to the art of curation. Thrift fashion encompasses recycling used clothing, selling unwanted garments and buying pre-owned pieces at a lesser value. This prevents clothing from ending up in landfills, thus reducing its carbon footprint and maintaining circular fashion ecosystems. “Curation” has become a serious business buzzword, and creative thinking is allowing values to align with execution. With repetitive fashion trends becoming too common, owning a garment that nobody else has can be a rare gift.