VINTAGE WEAR INDUSTRY
The Industry:
The Antique and Used Goods Retail is an industry that is engaged in selling antiques and used goods,
with the exception of motor vehicles/motorcycles and parts (Burgio-Ficca, 2016). Antique and used
goods in this sector are obtained most commonly from other organisations and individuals. One area
that the industry excludes is the online businesses such as auction web sites. The industry pursued is
the vintage and second clothing retail industry. According to Palmer & Clark (as cited in Han, 2013, p.
6) states that a vintage shop or boutique as it sometimes referred to is a place that is most likely ran
by an owner who operates by selling "clothes that are not newly designed and come from past eras.
Both of these industries (Antique and Used Goods, and Clothing Retail) can create an adequate
number of job prospects either directly or non-directly such as importing, exporting, merchandise
buying, commodity selling. The Australian Bureau of Statistics detailed that the retail trade in
2013/2014 employed 1,278,000 people and increased to 1,316,000 in 2014/2015 (ABS 2016). These
statistics indicates that retail industry is an industry that is an on the increase and has spiked in
employment throughout the years of 2013 and 2015 by 1.4% (ABS 2016)
Although it is early on in the year, the clothing retail sector has been predicted to struggle (Lauren,
2017). The projected struggle to take place can be due to a range of factors such as the economy,
government restrictions, and laws. The Australian Bureau of Statistics latest publication of the retail
trade has the industry on a raise, the raise of 0.4% follows in the months of September and October
(ABS 2017). With households limiting their discretionary spending, A conclusion reached in a report
by The Reserve Bank of Australia notes "older households tend to allocate a smaller proportion of
their spending to durable goods such as clothing and shoes" (Beech, Dollman, Finlay & La Cava,
2014).The reason for this could be that households that are more of an older demographic may have
already assigned their expenditure to clothing and shoes, and as such younger households might not
have their spending for durable goods as organised. One major factor that the antique and used
goods sector will struggle with is the every growing competition both from domestic and
international clothing companies.
Although fashion is readily consumed and produce, the industry and part of the person's inner-self is
merged into one. It can be argued that "the more our societies are dedicated followers of fashion,
focused on the present, the more they are accompanied by a groundswell of memory" (Lipovetsky &
Charles, 2005, p. 57). The vintage clothing industry can also benefit society by not by just enhancing
a person's identity, and it can also place a high value on authentic pieces of fashion as a subculture.
The great interest that has gathered around vintage pieces of clothing can be due...
