The way we wore

Thrift stores, swap meets, pre-loved designer sales, new old favourites. Indian fashion is finally doing right by the Earth. Are you?

- Riddhi Doshi

There used to be a time when they were called hand-me-downs, when people were too embarrassed to admit they wore them, and when they would give them away secretly. Now, they are called pre-loved and are celebrated. People wait for thrift-store pop-ups, raid the shelf for their size, and gleefully browse the other shelves too. They are happy to buy lehengas someone wore to one wedding season, and boho dresses from an influencer's photo shoot in Greece. They know what sole damage, label-intact and nearly new mean. Some are even setting up thrifting circles among same-sized family and friends.

Even Pernia Qureshi is on the scene, with her venture, Saritoria.

A stylist, fashion icon and serial entrepreneur, Qureshi co-founded the online marketplace in 2021 with Shehlina Soomro, a London-based investment banker and hedge fund manager. Here, people sell pre-loved designer outfits.

Qureshi is neither the first person to see the value in pre-owned clothes, nor the only one on the scene. But she epitomises all the entrepreneurs pushing for a circular economy as Earth's delicate balance comes apart at the seams.

A stitch in time 

None of the thrifting battle cries are untrue. When people buy pre-loved outfits, they do help save the world because the fashion industry is one of the most polluting. Every new garment that arrives in a store has already stressed limited water resources, will perhaps affect soil fertility, and may end up in a landfill. When people buy, wear and then chuck a garment, they add to that stress.