In recent years the global secondhand apparel market for clothing and shoes has grown exponentially.
In 2002 used clothing exports were worth US$1.4 billion. Despite a slowdown during the COVID-19 pandemic exports were close to US$4 billion in 2020.
In addition to reuse and upcycling in the west, substantial volumes of used clothing donated to charitable organisations continue to be exported to countries in the global south, among them in Africa. I wrote about the international secondhand clothing trade in a book published in 2000. My research was focused largely on Zambia. In the book I examined the interplay between environmentalism, charity, recycling and thrift. I also explored how secondhand clothes were about more than imitating Western styles. And traced how items were altered into garments that fitted into local cultural norms of etiquette.
And fourthly, new actors entered the global export of secondhand clothing. Among these were India and China. Survival strategies Today in Zambia as elsewhere in Africa, small-scale tailors and fashion entrepreneurs operate in a segmented clothing market that is far less competitive than it is interactive as they diversify and shift their activities to get by.
There is also a practical and economic aspect involved in this reuse of secondhand clothing. Consumers in many African markets consider imported garments from China to be of inferior quality to the clothes they find in secondhand markets.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Wallabies beat Pumas in Argentina, South Africa smashes All BlacksThe Wallabies overcome Argentina 41-26 in their Rugby Championship Test, saying they wanted to make skipper Michael Hooper proud - but the win is costly with an injury to Quade Cooper.
Read more »
South Africa power past New Zealand to pile pressure on head coach Ian FosterTries from Kurt-Lee Arendse and Willie le Roux settled the Rugby Championship opener as the All Blacks’ bad run continued
Read more »
Andrew Tuttle: Fleeting Adventure review – widescreen shimmer from the banjo wizardThe Australian’s ‘reverse doomscroll’ of a lockdown album brims with a sense of release
Read more »
Joe Biden ‘doesn’t even know’ how to pronounce ‘economy’
Read more »
The 23-year-old fashion designer dressing Colombia’s first black female vice-presidentWhen Francia Márquez became the South American country’s VP elect, she chose the unknown Esteban Sinisterra Paz to create her outfits
Read more »
An artist’s clever home conversion in Sydney’s inner westAn artist’s clever home conversion in Sydney’s inner west | Jennifer Soo
Read more »