SEEN ON INSTAGRAM SOLD IN THE LANES

Born on Instagram and shaped by the pandemic, thrift culture is here to stay. TMS checks out Hauz Khas Village’s thrift stores to understand why curation, touch and experience now matter more to Gen Z than low prices.

- S KEERTHIVAS

Collection of thrifted tops

A walk through Hauz Khas Village feels less like entering a market and more like stepping into a carefully edited moodboard.

Narrow lanes, cafés and small galleries mean visitors come looking for discovery; that mix of culture and commerce makes the area hospitable to shops that sell story and style as much as garments. It is little surprise, then, that curated secondhand and reworked fashion fits so naturally into the village’s streetscape.

Many of these shops began life on Instagram. During the Covid-19 lockdowns, reels, countdowns and styled drops helped sellers find an audience; the pandemic accelerated interest in pre-loved clothing already whetted by sustainability conversations, and gave small sellers a steady platform. What started as an online hobby for some became an argument for a physical shop—social media creates desire, but the in-person experience closes the sale.

Who’s buying? Predominantly Gen Z (18-25): college students, early-career professionals, content creators and fashion interns for whom Instagram is a discovery tool rather than a checkout counter.

“Most of our clothes are second hand, and some are imported from abroad,” says Pooja Singh, the manager of Shop With Love, one of the laneside stores that moved from Instagram to a brick-and-mortar address. “We mostly stock women’s camisoles, skirts and shorts. Prices start at around ₹700 for sundresses or camisoles and go up to ₹3,000 for jackets with designer labels,” she adds, describing the model that now defines many boutiques here: discovery online, seller editing, and a storefront where customers can try, feel and negotiate.

Korean fashion also shapes what fills these racks. Oversized silhouettes, cropped fur and biker jackets popularised by K-dramas and K-pop draw young shoppers to thrift stores that can mirror those aesthetics.