by Marylou Gaissert and Louis Hanoteau
In the secondhand shop “Brand Space Studios” costumers can also buy redesigned vintage clothes. Credit: Marylou Gaissert
Secondhand shops are everywhere in the city centre of Copenhagen. Jan Chul is the owner of one of the capital’s second-hand shops. His shop, called “Brand Space Studio”, is located in a street next to the main shopping street, Strøget, which is very busy. The small street next to it is more quiet, and on the left-hand side is this small shop, which is a little different from the usual secondhand shops. Most of the second-hand clothes in his shop are samples from local shops that have been used for catwalk shows and photo shoots. They also have some regular secondhand items from people who have used them privately, but another big difference from other secondhand shops is that he also works with local designers, mostly making redesigned vintage clothes, and offers them a space to sell their designs.
Sustainability was an important aspect for Jan when he opened his shop almost a year ago, in October 2023. Jan went to Copenhagen in 1998 to study design. From his point of view, there was a big trend towards secondhand in the 90s. People were buying old army leftovers and the whole music industry was using secondhand in their videos, but sustainability was not the reason to buy the clothes at that time. Then there was a period after the 2000s when everyone was buying new clothes, but he thinks the trend is coming back now, even more so than in the 90s.
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