The Delhi thrift market boom rests on the backs of women cloth recyclers
Somewhere between a rapid fashion surplus and an Instagram coil “Flip Thrift”, the Delhi savings market and the second -hand economy are a world of contrasts. The crumpled labels are presented as fashion declarations, and each dress ₹ 80 is delivered with a sustainability hashtag and a soft and vintage filter. The saver, once a class constraint, renamed itself as cool. But in Raghubir Nagar in the west of Delhi, savings are sewn in the streets – the clothes flowing through the boundar walls, dry on the fences by the road and the draped on Jhuggis.
Here, circular fashion is not a lifestyle – it is a livelihood. It begins with migrants from the Devipujak community of Gujarat – also known as Waghri, a group of historically nomadic caste which was once listed under the British era criminal tribes law. Although denoted after independence, stigma persists; In Gujarat, “Waghri” is always used as an insult. Many in the community have long supported themselves in the informal trade in fabrics, going from door to door to collect old clothes in exchange for utensils.
Gauri Ben, 36, is one of them – a pherewali whose market is the manicured and closed colonies of Delhi. “I don’t even remember when I started,” she says. “Since I was a child, I’ve been doing this. We’re going to Pheris with our mothers, then helping them to repair the clothes afterwards. This is the only job we’ve ever known.”
In a country where more than one million tonnes Textiles are thrown each year, the work of women and Gauri forms an invisible infrastructure that helps households to unload old clothes. “Although the textile waste generated by factories are easier to manage, the real challenge lies in post-consumption waste-the clothes that have already been worn,” explains Ina Bahuguna, program manager among inverted resources based on Estonia, a global platform that follows and connects the textile waste from factories to recyclers. “One of the rare ways that our informal systems react to this crisis is through the work of women who have been doing this work for generations.”
These second -hand textiles fuel the export channels of Delhi and the weekly haat, supporting a regular resale economy for the poor of the city for almost a century. Even today, almost 1,500 women Continue to work in this informal but organized ecosystem.
At 11 a.m., Gauri is halfway through his route. Her day begins in Raghubir Nagar utensil stores, where she collects steel jars, ceramic bowls or porcelain to swap for clothes. With its tight-fired dupatta and a growing bag aroused over its shoulder, it moves from one stop to another. Then, in groups, she and other Pheriwalis Board shared cars and head for the closed colonies of Delhi in places like Réjouri Garden, Janakpuri, Paschim Vihar, Punjabi Bagh, among others. Gauri knows which doors to strike: houses with a story of generous gifts, “Madames” who are regulars and with whom she has trusted, or families halfway through a purge of seasonal wardrobe.
