First and foremost, we wanted to know how Verena defines the concept of "slow fashion" and its significance in promoting sustainability. She shared: “Slow fashion is essentially the opposite of fast fashion. Slow fashion principles include priorities such as quality, longevity, mindful design, environmentally conscious supply chains, ethical manufacturing, and waste reduction. The root cause of many issues in the fashion industry is the over-production and disposability of garments, so slow fashion seeks to address this with an opposing mentality and business model.”

Learning that, we were curious to know how Thrifted differentiates itself from fast fashion retailers when it comes to promoting sustainable fashion practices. Brogan shared: “Our whole business has been and always will be pushing sustainable fashion, it’s not a trend that we have recently jumped on like a lot of fast fashion retailers have. Promoting circular fashion is at the core of our business and this can be seen throughout everything we do. In terms of specific initiatives, we recently partnered with Twig - the circular payment provider, to show customers at checkout the carbon offset they achieve from buying what is in their cart as secondhand rather than new. We also run an educational campaign on our website to give customers more background on the 'Why?', as well as a 7-point sustainable shopper checklist which you can see on all product pages.”

The trend to thrift has definitely skyrocketed over the past years. Verena doesn’t hide the joy of that. She shared her views on thrifting and gave a few tips for fellow shoppers. “It is so exciting to see such a growing interest in thrifting! Thrifting offers an amazing budget-friendly and sustainable alternative to fast fashion. By extending the life of existing garments, we are not only saving textiles from the landfill but are also not supporting unsustainable and unethical brands and industry practices.

For successful thrift shopping I think it's important to give yourself time and have fun! Having a general idea of what you're looking for is helpful to stay focused, and if you don't find anything that's okay! Check another store or check back later, stock is always changing.

If going through all the racks at the thrift store is intimidating or overwhelming to you, then try more curated options such as consignment stores or online secondhand retailers.”

As fashion trends change rapidly, it leads to a throwaway culture. We were wondering if Verena believes that people could adopt a mindset of conscious consumption and prioritize timeless, versatile pieces over short-lived trends.

“First I think it's important to recognize that rapid trends are just a fast fashion sales tactic - the fast fashion business model relies on high volume and constant turnover so it needs customers to be constantly changing our closets. The ever-faster micro trends are the perfect way to make people feel like they regularly need to get rid of out-of-trend clothes and buy whatever new styles are now 'in'. It's an extremely unsustainable cycle and rejecting this is a huge step to industry change. But that's not to say you can't still have fun experimenting with clothing and style! For many people shifting from a trend-driven wardrobe to developing their personal style is deeply rewarding. By focusing on your personal style vs following trends you can build a closet of clothing you truly love wearing and feel amazing in. When we love our clothing we want to keep it and wear it as long as possible. Understanding your personal style allows you to both express yourself and get creative regardless of trends, and also helps you better assess which trends and styles you actually enjoy and will want to hang on to,” explained Verena.

She also added: “If readers are interested in learning more, I go into this topic and have activities around understanding your style and sustainable fashion priorities as well as changing shopping habits in my ebook Quit Fast Fashion.”

However, changing trends are not always that bad, because recently we had a vintage trend comeback, making people become more interested in thrifted items. We asked Brogan to share examples of specific vintage fashion trends that have made a comeback in recent years. She wrote: “Y2K has definitely made the biggest comeback in recent years and is still going strong, everywhere you look, whether it’s on social media, when online shopping / in store shopping or even walking down the street, you will see clothing inspired by the early 2000s. It’s been great to see not only the style make a comeback but also the brands who were huge in this era; we have noticed a massive interest in brands such as Miss Sixty, True Religion, Ed Hardy, etc. We have also begun to see a comeback of '80s fashion, with a lot of brands releasing bold geometric designs, futuristic sunglasses and almost every clothing item in metallic silver / gold.”

I believe that the most important factor of vintage clothing is their quality, since back then they didn’t make clothes to be worn over season, they actually were made to last.

We were wondering how Thrifted ensures the quality and authenticity of its vintage clothing items, and what measures are taken to authenticate designer pieces. Brogan wrote: “We work closely with our partner factories to ensure all of our items are fully authenticated and of top quality at source. We then go through an authenticity process within our own warehouse where items go through 3-4 quality control checks by trained staff, so that we can be 100% confident all our designer items are authentic. It is part of what we do and part of our value as a brand. We are keen to build on this and are about to launch a new specific preloved designer brand that will only feature our best designer products - www.preloveddesigner.com. We have begun working with a separate handbag authentication company, so that our customers can confidently shop authentic bags in what is typically a very challenging category to guarantee authenticity, given the high quality of fakes.”

She also added by sharing what strategies they employ to keep up with current fashion trends whilst staying true to its vintage aesthetic and values.

“We are very lucky to stock the amount of products we currently do as this really allows us to keep up with current fashion trends whilst sticking to our values. Whether it is a microtrend like 'Blokecore' or a huge trend like the Y2K resurgence we will always have stock on hand to cater to these trends; the only thing we really have to change is our marketing strategy. When we see a trend rising in popularity we will focus on this to promote our range of trend-relevant products - through relevant product selection in our marketing & styling. Additionally we are always working with our suppliers to update product selections so that our deliveries remain trend-relevant. It is something that is quite challenging as a large-scale vintage brand, to maintain that product trend relevance across changing fashions,” explained Brogan.

However, it is worth mentioning that sustainable fashion goes beyond just thrifting and encompasses various aspects like ethical production, fair trade, and eco-friendly materials. We asked Verena to share how she navigates the complexities of sustainable fashion. She shared: “It can be very complex and that often feels discouraging - many people don't know what to do, where to start, or if their action will make any difference. I always recommend deciding what a top priority is for you and using that as a guide, so it might be reducing plastic, ensuring living wages, focusing on organic/non-toxic products, or another priority. It's impossible to check all the boxes and make a perfectly sustainable choice, so having an area of focus makes it easier to navigate sustainable fashion.

I also think it's important to emphasize that sustainable fashion goes beyond what we buy. Actions such as how we wash/care for our clothes are also very important as well as what we do with our clothing when it's no longer needed. Additionally, citizens can have a valuable impact by spreading awareness and encouraging better industry regulation.”

Social media and influencer culture can sometimes perpetuate a "buy more" mentality, contradicting the principles of sustainability. We asked Verena to share some tips for mindful consumption and how we can resist the pressure of constant consumerism in the fashion realm.

“Unfortunately, social media can often feel like one big advertisement. I am a big fan of doing a 'digital declutter' a few times a year - this involves critically looking at who you're following/what content you're consuming and if it's having an overall negative or positive impact on you. So unfollow people who make you feel bad or are regularly encouraging you to shop, and unsubscribe from brands who fill your inbox with sales and promotions. It's also very helpful to understand what our personal triggers are that make us want to shop, so it could be stress or an emotional trigger, sales or social media, other people/social triggers, etc. If we can connect the dots and identify shopping triggers then we can address them or channel them into other activities,” shared Verena.

And lastly, we were wondering how Thrifted engages with the local community to promote the importance of sustainable fashion and encourage customers to embrace vintage clothing as a stylish and eco-friendly choice. Brogan wrote: “Our most recent venture to engage with customers was our Piccadilly Pop Up store. We decided that a great way to reach out to customers, both old and new, was to put a store in a traditional high street environment where fast fashion is everywhere. It was a great way for customers to not only engage with Thrifted staff and learn about circular fashion but to also see the clothing in person and see that sustainable fashion can also be affordable and on-trend just like fast fashion is. In the past we have launched a F*ck Fast Fashion campaign which is still available to read on our website. We decided to sell t-shirts, tote bags and hoodies with our 'F*ck Fast Fashion, Shop Vintage' slogan across it and largely sold out. We also engaged the general public by putting stickers around London and getting people to spot them. To further educate people on circular fashion and that it’s not just about buying second-hand clothing only, we have produced a '7-Point Sustainable Shopper Checklist' which lists all ways you can be more environmentally friendly when buying clothing.”