Out With The New In With The Old: NYFW Attendees Are Skipping The Pricey Pieces And Showing Off Thrift Finds Instead
Whether you’ rock New York Fashion Week style or not, everyone can understand the stress of finding the perfect outfit for an event. When Fashion Week rolls around, everywhere you look you see people in amazing fashion forward outfits. Shockingly, for the past couple of years the most eye-catching looks have been styled with thrifted pieces.
The Thrift obsession is nothing new. There are countless TikTok thrift hauls, thrift store recommendations, and thrift flip videos. However, when thinking of New York Fashion Week secondhand clothing is not the first thing that comes to mind.
Post-Pandemic Thrift Obsession
Thrifting started to take off after the pandemic when Gen-Z creators were posting their thrift fines on social media. Online thrift platforms like ThredUp and Depop made second-hand shopping really accessible during the isolation period of the pandemic. According to a study published by ThreadUp in 2020, after the pandemic consumers cared more about sustainability, saving money, resellable clothing, and less garment waste. Additionally, the ThredUp study found that 42% of Millenials and Gen-Z shop secondhand apparel.
Thrifting For Fashion Week
In my quest to find outfit inspiration for the upcoming NYFW I searched through YouTube videos, TikToks, and fashion blogs. Surprisingly, most of the outfits I was finding combined thrifted pieces, made-to-wear items, and some designer staples mixed together.
One YouTube video that I stumbled on was a compilation of different NYFW looks from people on the streets. The YouTuber Batsheva or better know by her username, Cynical Duchess interviewed people at NYFW about their outfits. Many of the outfits featured in her video included at least one item from a thrift or vintage store.
Fashion Week is a time when stepping out of the box is praised and revered. Finding iconic and unique thrifted pieces to style with clothes already in your closet can really step up an outfit. Wearing pieces that set you apart from the crowd is a great way to get noticed at Fashion Week. And thrifting is all about finding crazy, creative clothing.
“For Gen Z, thrifting isn’t just a way to shop – it’s a lifestyle. Thrifting feels emblematic of the way Gen Z strays from the beaten path,” says Eliza Huber, a Fashion Market Writer at Refinery29. “They want to be independent[…] to save the planet. They want to save money – and make money. And they want to do it all in a cute outfit that costs less than $10. Thrifting makes that possible.”
So, now that NYFW is upon us, keep in mind that thrifted outfits often pique people’s interest in your styling skills. And if you don’t want to break the bank your New York Fashion week style, maybe add a few thrifted items to your looks.