South Korea's Secondhand Fashion Market Expands as Consumers Hunt for Value

According to Lianhe Zaobao, citing no upstream source, South Korean consumers are increasingly shifting from fast fashion to secondhand platforms and vintage stores, as higher living costs push more shoppers to seek value for money. Hana Financial Research Institute estimated that South Korea's secondhand market has grown from 4 trillion won in 2008 to 43 trillion won in 2025, or about SGD 37 billion, more than 10 times larger. A survey by Embrain of 1,000 consumers aged 13 to 59 found that 78% had bought or sold used clothing, while 62% said secondhand apparel has become a normal consumer choice. Research and Markets forecast that the global secondhand clothing market will rise from about USD 199 billion in 2025 to USD 486 billion in 2031. South Korean fashion companies are also expanding into resale, with some platforms increasing their brand coverage from a dozen or more to about 170 brands and seeing first-half transaction volumes rise several-fold or even 10 times. Kolon FnC's OLO Relay Market expanded from 19 in-house brands to 176 and said first-half transaction volume was about 4.4 times the level when it launched in the second half of 2022. LF's L-Re Market widened coverage from 15 brands to about 170, and its June transaction volume rose about 80% from September last year.