“It’s always more fun to share with everyone. If you have two, give one to your friend. If you have three, give one to your friend and me.” Jack Johnson sings about splitting sandwiches and passing the ball in his 2006 Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies album. Somewhat unexpectedly, the words he crooned for Curious George‘s kiddie fans are resonating with Toronto’s fashion obsessives. These ladies are heading to the market not to buy or eat, but to share and swap clothes.
On Tuesday, Uniiverse, a social platform that enables sharing in communities, held its first clothing swap in downtown Toronto. For two hours, 80 people tried, tossed, and traded more than one thousand pieces of clothing pulled from fellow Torontonians’ closets. From a vintage gold maxi skirt to high heel clogs, women from their teens to thirties swapped treasures to up the ante in their closets.
Clothing swaps are relatively new in Toronto, but the norm in big cities like London, Melbourne, and San Francisco. The Brits have been trading clothes for years as if stealing from their sisters’ closets. They even trade accessories, clothes, makeup and shoes online at Swapstyle.com, the world’s number one fashion swap site that attracts more than 40,000 shoppers a year. Americans adopted swaps more than 10 years ago as an affordable way to shop, and they’ve since evolved into a social exercise similar in popularity to tupperware and jewelry parties.
“The idea of sharing in general is now on the rise, whether it be a pair of jeans, a spare room, a ride, or a skill, people are starting to realize the value in collaborating within a community,” says Daphne Wu, the project lead at Uniiverse and organizer of Tuesday’s swap. “As far as fashion goes, the rush and excitement of a new purchase will never be replaced; however, at least we now have the option to save our money when we want to.”
And while sharing makes growing a wardrobe more affordable and allows people to donate to a charity or reduce their environmental impact, are these really the reasons why Torontonians are swapping?
Perhaps we’re just swapping for our love of fashion and to satisfy our insatiable hunger for new, ‘cool’ styles.
Jeff Casler, owner of Kind Exchange, two new resale clothing stores on Queen Street West, says that’s one of the reasons a customer of his has returned to his stores in the United States for more than 20 years.
Casler opened his Toronto shops less than a year ago on Queen Street West for “its coolness factor.” He nods to the area for its diversity, intelligence, music, food, density, and being fashion-forward.
He opened his first consignment store Second Time Around in 1990, and has since grown his business into a chain of more than 25 consignment stores in the United States. He explains that consignment shops have only gained popularity over the years due to economic downturn, environmental concerns, and constantly changing inventory.
At Kind Exchange, customers buy clothing from the community, bring in their clothes for cash, trade their clothes for new items, or donate the proceeds from the sale to a local charity of their choice.
“It’s a feel good shopping option,” says the company website. Casler adds, “We feel that offering people cash on the spot is more compelling than consignment.”
And, while cash is the obvious tangible outcome, I asked Wu about why these events are important for the fashion industry in Toronto. She says they aren’t. It’s about sharing. And, she’s right. But, knowing the hip, young crowd of Queen Street West and Ossington a little too well, sharing isn’t just about caring… we’re sharing as a means to more stylish ends.
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Kristen Marano is a Toronto-based writer. Follow her on Twitter at @kmarano.
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