Second hand and flea markets: who among us does not have objects, furniture, clothes at home that he no longer uses? You want it out of affection, you want it as furniture: it is difficult to separate from things to which we are linked.
When you think of “used”, you think of something worn, old. An object that told the story of him but that, at a certain point, comes to an end.
The flea market system – therefore second-hand markets – is making space within a system where the Consumption God reigns supreme, welcoming more and more categories of people.
If on the one hand there are fashionistas and vintage lovers (it is easy to find real one-offs), on the other there is the category of those who are attentive to savings.
Precisely because everything is created, nothing is destroyed and everything changes, that in the flea markets one has come to see life itself in a new way.
In recent years, environmental protection and an increasingly conscious lifestyle have welcomed more and more consumers into these spaces.
And it is for this reason that today’s consumer is increasingly informed about what, where and by whom what they are going to buy is made.
In fact, the use of the second hand and therefore the use of flea markets is increasing sharply, especially in the new generations, such as the GenZ (65%), families with small children (63%).
Buying (or selling) second-hand items means optimizing the energy used to produce them.
A real fight against waste and fast fashion that has greatly affected the value given to once upon a time (manufacturing and craftsmanship).
This is why the places of the second hand must remain in the sacredness of the times we are living.
The flea markets contain within themselves that circularity that is increasingly making room in our lives.
With their purity of purpose and transparency of intentions, they replace something that is not relevant to respect for Nature.
More than seeing a taste of “ancient”, in the flea markets you could discover a real innovation from every point of view.
The latter point that I would welcome as a new concept of “adaptation” rather than “change”.
It is with the adaptation in (re) writing a new story for that object that will make it a real “icon of our time”.
The “flea markets”: from self-affirmation to true “comfort fashion”, nothing more than a caress that the soul – and especially the pockets – seeks.
A comfort that is good for us, but above all it is good for the planet, enhancing a narration of stories that tell today, the reality of yesterday.
Everything is a continuous evolution without ever stopping.
(NB: in Italy there have been about 2000 flea markets since 2008. According to a survey conducted by the Second hand Economy Observatory, carried out by BVA – DOXA, the second hand only generated a turnover in 2020 of 23 billion euros. Abroad there are different types of flea markets: from garage sales in the United States to second-hand shop and charity shop in Great Britain).
