By TOTO TSARNEBA
Sara Roodt is the founder and organiser of the Thrift Market, which takes place once a month on the lawns outside the Botanical Gardens.
The motivation for Makhanda-born, Roodt was her love of fashion and disdain for the fast fashion industry. She observed many thrift markets worldwide, inspiring her to start her own in April 2021.
For Roodt, fast fashion is an environmental disaster – it’s not just about the mountains of clothes that get discarded, but the plastics that take aeons to break down.
She said active citizens could help solve environmental problems, like the plethora of illegal dumpsites that have sprung up in Makhanda, by recycling, upcycling and thrifting.
She said that fast fashion also exploits labour and violates human rights – working conditions for millions of textile and garment workers are bad.
Child labour and modern slavery are still being reported, particularly in developing countries, such as Bangladesh, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Philippines. Many factory workers are paid below the legal minimum wage, are forced to work long hours in an unsafe environment, and don’t have access to healthcare or paid leave, Roodt said.
“The rationale is that fast fashion is affordable and convenient for budget-conscious consumers and offers a large variety of styles every week to satisfy the need for an ever-changing wardrobe,” she said. “But, the workers can’t even afford to buy the clothes they make.”
Some of the clothes thrown away are worn just once by their owners, Roodt said. The alternative is to take clothes to an affordable thrift market instead.
“I am happy to see people coming to join the market. We started with five small thrifting shops, and now there are 34,” she said.
Roodt can be reached on Instagram @the.thriftmarket or @rebel.and.roo.thrift.
Among the people who have joined the market is Imce van Kerken from Dikkop Vlagte Farm. She is a farm girl, and she loves horses and fashion.
She sells secondhand clothes and some of the clothes she makes. She started her business in June 2021. Trade was very slow during Covid 19, but the market helped to open doors.
Roodt and Van Kerken said thrifting is active on Instagram and Facebook.
But, the market allows people to interact with each other and touch the fabric of the clothes they want to buy. This improved sales as people were nervous about buying online.
