On Instagram, I recently came across a resurfaced clip from a 2012 BBC News Interview of Matthew Stadlen’s “Five Minutes With” featuring Dame Vivienne Westwood. When asked for recession-proof fashion advice, Westwood answered with clarity: “Dress up, wear your old favorites over and over again. Don’t buy new clothes. So buy less, choose well, and add things that just make it very personal.”

More than a decade later, that soundbite feels less like advice and more like a manifesto.

Westwood, one of my favorite designers, was advocating sustainability long before it became a marketing buzzword or a neatly labeled ESG checked box for compliance. At a time when the fashion industry was starting to head toward ultra-fast fashion, where product turnaround was reduced to days instead of months and weeks, she was already calling out overconsumption for what it was: wasteful, unimaginative, and rather useless. Today, when sustainability is often reduced to recycled tags and capsule collections, her words feel refreshingly direct.

What Westwood understood early on is that style is not about constant newness. It’s all about intention, forming a relationship with what you wear. Choosing to rewear becomes a quiet act of rebellion, something Westwood is quite known for.

We’re now seeing this philosophy materialize in real, measurable ways. In Sweden, ReTuna Aterbruksgalleria—the world’s first recycling mall—has been proving since 2015 that retail doesn’t have to rely on the new to be viable. Located beside a recycling center in Eskilstuna, the mall sells nothing brand new. Every item is reused, recycled, or upcycled. In 2020 alone, the mall sold over Swedish Krona 15 million or around ₱100 million worth of secondhand goods. More than the numbers, ReTuna represents a shift in mindset that hopefully the world can catch up on—shopping as part of a circular system, not a linear one.

Closer to home, the Philippines is experiencing its own, quieter version of this revolution. Vintage and secondhand stores are opening at a noticeable pace. Beyond brick-and-mortar shops, online thrift platforms are thriving, while pop-ups and flea markets have become weekend fixtures as curated, social, and often community-driven events. These are not the dusty “ukay okay” stereotypes of the past. They are intentional spaces where curation, storytelling, and sustainability exist.

What’s interesting is who’s driving this movement. Younger consumers—Gen Z and younger millennials—are not just shopping for aesthetics. They’re shopping with mindful consumption in mind. Climate anxiety and rising living costs are just a few of the issues they’re concerned about. Owning less, choosing better, and buying pre-loved are no longer fleeting behaviors, they’re becoming lifestyle statements.

As we move into 2026, I’m convinced we’ll see even more vintage and secondhand stores emerge, either online or or offline, catering to a broader, more design-literate, and more environmentally conscious audience. As Westwood said, it’s about rediscovering joy in what already exists—remixing, rewearing, and making things personal again.

In the same vein, I believe we are not being asked to dress down, but rather being invited to dress up with greater meaning

(Rey Robes Ilagan is the editor of Manila Bulletin’s Lifestyle section.)