Singapore Is Shaping Up To Be A Secondhand Fashion Haven
First, the youths here started to dress “New York” – their personality-fuelled, sometimes chaotic style referential of eras past because much of what they wear are from another time and had previously been owned by another. Now our retail landscape’s starting to look like New York’s too with a small handful of vintage boutiques, a growing deluge of thrift stores and some that define themselves as an in-between. Ahead, we go trawling.
For the longest time, Singapore’s secondhand fashion scene was – to put kindly – sad. Besides a small handful of serious vintage boutiques that have been around since the early 2000s (Deja vu Vintage and Dustbunny Vintage – both of which specialise in exquisitely curated women’s wear that date as far back as to the 1950s – come to mind), pre-loved shopping was mostly relegated to the likes of charity shops and the occasional swap meet. And then came the pandemic and the Gen-Zers.
READ MORE: A Directory Of Thrift And Vintage Fashion Stores In Singapore
Gen Z’s passion for dressing secondhand is well documented. It’s the happy result of a quirky confluence of factors: a love for nostalgia; a desire for no-holds-barred self-expression; hyper eco-consciousness; pragmatic price sensitivity and the influence of the social media phenomenon known as TikTok, where trends accelerate, and micro trends and influencers flourish. (Style stars known for their thrifting habits have become global celebrities – see Emma Rogue – while the number of TikTok views for the hashtags #vintage and #thrift are 45.8 billion and 14.2 billion respectively.) What’s notable now is that Singapore’s starting to have the brick-and-mortar shops to fire up the fervour even more.
In the past two years or so, this tiny city with a love for clearing out the old to make way for the new and squeaky clean has seen a spate of businesses trading in secondhand fashion emerge. Once-sleepy strata malls such as Queensway Shopping Centre have become a hotbed for such enterprises and in turn the new hubs of cool for the next generation. Ditto Haji Lane, which these days can be said to resemble a fledgling Shimokitazawa in Tokyo and regained its hipster status, with its flurry of colourful thrift shops that opened recently.
READ MORE: Pre-Loved And Thrifted Is The Way To Shop For Singapore Gen Zers
According to business owners whom we spoke to, there are at least 30 of such boutiques now – many run by Gen-Zers and had originated online – while we counted at least 10 that have launched this year alone. Few carry pieces that can be considered bonafide vintage, which connoisseurs define as at least 30 years old and are often rare and possess historical or cultural significance – even though they might describe themselves as such. Many celebrate thrift culture, where affordability matters as much as the style. And in what some might call a quintessentially Gen Z move, there are also those who have come up with their own categories such as “curated thrift”. (Take Two Worlds at Golden Landmark Shopping Complex – as its 20-year-old owner Jesselynn Ni explains: “Unlike typical thrift stores, we put in effort to do two to three rounds of curation to ensure the pieces that we sell are in good condition and fit our image.”)
READ MORE: In Singapore, A New Approach To Appreciating Archival Fashion
So the scene here might not quite be that of Brooklyn’s, Tokyo’s or neighbouring Johor Bahru’s, but the character that comes with its growth and diversity surely make Singapore an even more lively fashion city. Says Kelly Lee – owner of Deja vu Vintage, which has been standing for 18 years and has called Millennia Walk home since 2008: “I feel grateful that the next generation of shoppers is more environmentally-friendly. Whether you’re shopping thrift or vintage, it is still recycling and reducing waste and environmental damage that occurs with mass production and that’s great.
READ MORE: Best Stores In Tokyo For Thrift And Vintage Shopping
“It’s also so great that the next generation is more experimental with fashion and seeking out something different. Hopefully this evolution that we’re seeing now will make them even more educated about vintage and aware of the differences between thrift and vintage. We can’t wait to meet more lovers of rare vintage and for Singapore’s fashion scene to embrace more diversity and individuality.”
Here, meet four Gen Z-run businesses that opened this year and are helping to make Singapore a new haven for secondhand fashion in their own way.
NEAREST TEN
Business partners and real-life-couple Darren Tan (left) and Sidney Lim (left) opened Nearest Ten in June this year, stocking a thoughtfully curated selection of secondhand garments and accessories sourced from Korea, Japan and the USA, with everything priced between $10 and $60. Says Lim: “Our items are more expensive than that of a typical thrift store, but cheaper as compared to a vintage boutique. You can say that we are a somewhat premium version of a thrift store as everything has been curated.”
Where: 57A Pagoda Street
Opened: June 2023
Who’s behind it: Real-life couple Sidney Lim, 22, and Darren Tan, 23. He’s shy so while the two business-trained entrepreneurs are the brains behind this operation, she – the more effervescent one – has also become the brand’s unofficial face/ambassador (and has the cool-girl style to match).
Why visit: This brightly lit boutique on the second floor of a Chinatown shophouse has one of the widest and most fun selections of everything you need to recreate the off-duty wardrobe of your fave Y2K popstar (read: Britney, Hilary, Christina). According to Lim, there can be as many as 2,000 items showcased in store at any one time while sizes go up to a 5XL for tops and 38 inches for bottoms. Everything, however, has been handpicked by the founders so the condition of wares ranges between a good and excellent, and is neatly organised according to product category so perusing is effortless. Rounding out this thoughtful retail experience are the ingenious pricing strategies. All prices end with a zero (it explains the store’s name) and there are two signature sale events: what the duo calls “one category, one price” that takes place monthly and the tagged price never goes above $30, and adhoc clearance sales in which every piece goes for $10.
A favourite secondhand fashion memory: “We had a customer who knew about us through Tiktok (@neartest.ten) and described himself as a ‘Uniqlo whore’,” shares Lim. “He had never thrifted before, but visited out of curiosity and was surprised by our range of options. Recently, he returned and told us that now everything in his wardrobe is thrifted, and thanked us for changing up his style. He is also now working with us as a part-timer.”
TWO WORLDS
Gen Z girl boss Jesselynn Ni describes her six-month-old, secondhand fashion-focused business Two Worlds as “Singapore’s first thrift and consignment store of its scale”. At any one time, the boutique carries the wares of 30 vendors that mostly specialise in preloved garments and accessories as well as beauty and lifestyle products carried on consignment.
Where: #02-31 Golden Landmark Shopping Complex
Opened: June 2023
Who’s behind it: The intrepid Jesselynn Ni, a 20-year-old who’s in her freshman year as a business student at Singapore Management University and whose Y2K style belies a sophistication beyond her years. During our interview, she reveals that she’s opening another space in the same mall this month, this time featuring her own designs as well as those by other young designers from the region.
Why visit: This spacious corner boutique had a steady stream of young customers – some accompanied by their parents – during our visit on a mid-week afternoon last month and with some digging, it’s not hard to see why. Ni has come up with an ambitious concept: Besides a smattering of beauty and lifestyle products (some vintage, some by homegrown labels), Two Worlds boasts wares from a hotchpotch of other thrift stores with up to 30 vendors represented on consignment at any one time. This includes her own label – also named Two Worlds – that specialises in pre-loved garments with a fairycore aesthetic (think lots of camisoles and bohemian maxi skirts) and the result is an eclectic, but not overwhelming variety of options that start from as low as $3 and go up to $80. For a friendly maiden thrift experience, start here.
Is Singapore a secondhand fashion haven? “I think so, because I've spoken to tourists who visit Two Worlds and they tell me that they’re here specially to thrift and intend to spend the whole day doing so.”
ROOKIES
Polytechnic school mates Tan Junyu and Tay Yu Hang possess an infectious love for vintage fashion that shows in their barely three-month-old, tastefully curated boutique Rookies. Says Tan: “We named our business Rookies because – just like how we were before – there are people who are interested in vintage but might not be sure of how to get into it. We hope that this will be a place where vintage lovers and novices alike can gather, share their interests and discoveries, and help build the vintage scene and community here.”
Where: #03-38 Peninsula Shopping Centre
Opened: Sept 2023
Who’s behind it: The genial polytechnic school mates and vintage enthusiasts Tan Junyu, 19, and Tay Yu Hang, 18. Tan was the first to get into the game, parlaying an early interest in the scene (he first discovered vintage around four years ago – when he was in secondary three) into an online business in 2022. Eight months ago, Tay – who admits to being a “soccer jersey and berms” kind of guy before Tan converted him – came on board and now helps oversee the backend side of things.
Why visit: This is possibly Singapore’s most discerning and coolest new vintage boutique. The cosy and tastefully decorated store boasts a carefully considered range of denims and separates that would appeal to those into American workwear and Ametora chic with everything thoroughly cleaned and steamed before hitting the racks. Some hail from the late 2000s, but there are also plenty of treasures clearly from eras past, including a ’90s reproduction of a ’40s pair of rodeo clown jeans by Lee; YSL-esque leather coats; and a corduroy jacket created for a member of the FFA, or Future Farmers of America, also from the ’90s. As much as possible, every garment is accompanied by a letter penned by Rookies’ founders describing the history and culture surrounding it – that’s how passionate these boys are about vintage.
Are you in this for the passion or the money? Says Tan: “We always say that if you don’t have a genuine passion for vintage, you won’t be able to sell it well.”
SSALTYTHRIFTS
Jenevieve – the 20-year-old founder of Ssaltythrifts who prefers to go by only her first name – started the business specialising in Y2k-chic secondhand fashion online in 2020 as an extension of her own personal style. Today, she has not one, but two brick-and-mortar boutiques – the latest of which opened late last month.
Where: #04-34 and #04-40 Orchard Plaza
Opened: May 2023
Who’s behind it: The hyper-chic 21-year-old Jenevieve (she prefers to keep her last name under wraps) who graduated with a diploma in arts business management in April and is currently taking a gap year before starting university in 2024.
Why visit: This is cool girl central – just clock Jenevieve in her denim fit opposite. Denims (jeans, mini and maxi skirts, you name it) are naturally a bestseller. Ditto the cargos and baby tees – all lovingly handpicked by Jenevieve herself and which look right out of the Bella Hadid style book. The focus – the key colours, for example, are neutral – also means that while this is technically a thrift store (prices range between $15 and $60), the space has the feel of a curated boutique. Says Jenevieve: “I’ve kept the store aesthetic clean and modern to compliment the aesthetic of our clothes.”
Photography Athirah Annissa Art Direction Jonathan Chia Hair Tan Eng Chong/Kizuki+Lim Makeup Beno Lim and Sarah Tan
This article first appeared in the Dec 2023 This Great City Edition of FEMALE