Secondhand Index and the Spirit of Green Vintage Fashion

Abstract

This chapter analyses how secondhand consumption and vintage fashion retailers are incorporated into Swedish urban life and the retail planning context. The chapter is part of an ongoing research project, studying retail planning and vintage fashion consumption practices. Key concepts when discussing retail and localization are attractiveness and accessibility. Cities are often characterised by their unique qualities and the spirit of creativity. In the “experience society”, retail and (fashion) consumption are regarded as everyday activities for identity development and communication. Goods/services have become value-creating components of a hedonistic fashion consumption culture that is characterised by an increasingly more knowledgeable and demanding fashion consumer. Secondhand and vintage fashion represents an economic grey area and an important part of the informal economy. The existence of both types of retailer within an urban space can communicate specific values and imagery. Stores, which sell pre-owned goods and dedicate themselves to re-use and charity, have their own specific historiography. In the Western welfare context, however, re-use and secondhand goods obtain a specific significance via the fashion transformation of the pre-owned, which took place during the post-war era. In place development and retail planning, there is trust in the potential of fashion, sustainability and creativity. This finds specific expression when it comes to the production of urban fashion retail space. This chapter sheds light on the complex relationship between retail planning and the production of green vintage fashion space. By identifying how some Swedish secondhand and vintage fashion markets are organised, the study contributes to an understanding of the conditions under which secondhand and vintage fashion markets operate.