with young fashion lovers becoming more sustainable and conscious preowned preloved and secondhand style is fast outpacing fast fashion around the globe in india the trend of thrifting picked up pace during the lockdown when malls local markets and several fast fashion websites shut downmany people found a new way to shop during this time thrifting became popular not only because it is affordable but also because it is sustainable says delhibased 22yearold pakhi singh who runs an online thrift store called thriftibility from vintage pieces to branded outfits and accessories online thrift stores like pakhis source and sell unique pieces at extremely reasonable ratesmumbais 23yearold pranali bolwankar owner of the online thrift store thrift mumbai adds getting the chance to purchase luxury brands at such low prices and the variety on offer is whats attracting people towards thrifting in india recent times have also seen celebrities open up their personal closets to the public to help minimise fashion wastage among these are deepika padukone alia bhatt sonakshi sinha dia mirza and monica dogra heres morepeople were a little skeptical about buying secondhand at firstat first people were a little skeptical about buying secondhand there were inhibitions related to wearing something people have already worn hygiene etc however with growing knowledge about how sustainable thrifting is this outlook is changing say arpita and shimona owners of snazzy thriftthygiene continues to be a major concern especially during the pandemic and store owners make sure each item of clothing is rigorously cleaned and sanitised before being put up for sale we receive these pieces of clothing from vendors or through donations after which they are drycleaned ironed sanitised and packaged we make sure the clothes dont look preowned even though they are says pakhiaccess to unique pieces at reasonable pricesgarments like corsets jackets and blazers are some pieces that make 22yearold student subhangi bose love thrift shopping so muchthe pieces if bought first hand are extremely expensive corsets will cost you anything between rs 2000 to rs 4000 jackets and blazers are even more expensive they only start from 4000 but in thrift stores you get it in less than half their price recently i bought a trench coat from one online store and it just cost me rs 1000 and that is clearly a steal deal apart from reasonable deals items that you get in thrift stores are unique pieces unlike fast fashion items theres a possibility that every second person will have the same top or dress so thrifting is cool in so many ways says shubhangithe thrill and joy of finding such designer pieces at less and that too preowned by the older generations at really reasonable prices is always more intense than finding a cute casual clothing item designer and high end apparel are more in demand and they sell quickly because the idea of a good brand attached to a piece is satisfying this changes accordingly with the changing trends of preferring or not preferring designer wear