How California tech turned thrifted clothes into a booming fashion trend

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Set us as preferred Thrifted clothes have become an unlikely fashion flex for Hollywood’s haute couture hoarders and other trend-setters.California companies have propelled this movement, turning what was once an old-fashioned way to save money into a booming industry at the cutting edge of style.The secondhand clothing market grew 20% to more than $240 billion over the last five years, according to McKinsey & Co.’s State of Fashion report, as San Francisco’s RealReal, Redwood City’s Poshmark, Oakland’s ThredUp and others used Silicon Valley innovation to streamline listing, finding and delivering secondhand products.

Business More online platforms are giving secondhand shopping a digital upgrade, rolling out features like livestream shopping and AI-powered search to make thrifting faster and more exciting.“Resale itself reflects something very Californian: taking an existing behavior and using technology to fundamentally change its scale and possibilities,” said Rati Sahi Levesque, founder of the RealReal.“What we’ve done is build the trust, logistics, data and technology that allow that behavior to become a mainstream way millions of people shop.”The emergence of a new kind of online shopper, using these sites and willing to pay luxury prices for used pieces, has become so prominent that it is sometimes outshining the freshest runway trends.

California consumers’ acceptance of and excitement about thrifted, recycled and repurposed clothes catapulted L.A.’s Reformation from a vintage boutique into a billion-dollar company after its initial public offering last month.Business Reformation IPO turns L.A.

sustainable fashion boutique into a one-billion-dollar companyOnline thrifters like that they save money, help reduce waste and can ignore trends dictated by the industry.Many also are addicted to ...