Written by Zsófi Benyi

“Unwittingly and motivated purely by my obsession with an aesthetic, I had cobbled
together a wardrobe with a relatively low environmental impact.” says Lilah Ramzi, a
fashion-history graduate, who one day during a class found everything she ever wanted: she
describes it as “poised, graceful, well mannered, well-read, with the world wrapped around
her red lacquered finger” referring to Renée, a model from 1947, whose photo made her fall
in love with a skirt. Last summer sitting on steps overlooking the city, in the daytime, yet in a
night-out party outfit that I thrifted the day before, I too fell in love with the feeling: the
magic of thrifting and finding unique gems. A year later, with most of my closet filled with
thrifted treasures, I scan the shores for something new. Let me introduce virtual thrifting!

Secondhand stores like peer-to-peer resale platform and Depop transform thrifted treasures
into the mystic digital world. Digital upcycling could hold great potential: “Upcycling digitally
mirrors the process in the real world, using vintage and secondhand items as a creative
starting point and then customizing and tweaking them from there.” If you think about it,
there is a game since the 2000s that prepainted the picture for virtual worlds today: Sims.
We also know that even though thrifting is becoming trendier by the minute, we need to
raise even more awareness of the possibilities and benefits of secondhand clothing.
Together Depop and Sims bond for a better cause in a partnership that fills gaps and could
create a cultural moment. To encourage thrifting among all, now even your Sims character
will rock a seller-designed virtual clothing item brought to the virtual world by Depop.