Flea market chain Jussin Jättikirpis has taken a stand against fast fashion by banning quickly produced, trend-driven clothing — often manufactured in China — from its sites.”We have decided to ban the sale of ultra-fast fashion (Temu, Shein, Wish) at Jussin Jättikirpis,” the firm states on its website.”Now we have so-called proper clothes for sale. At the end of last fall, we stopped selling fast fashion here. There are certain clothing brands that people order a lot from China. These garments often end up at flea markets. But they are of poor quality, and they have also been found to contain toxins,” said Tua Salomaa, who works for the chain in Porvoo.This sweater gets Tua Salomaa’s seal approval. Image: Mikael Kokkola / YleThe response from customers has been mixed.”Some people think it’s great and support our decision. Others don’t like it since they can’t sell their clothes here,” she added.Every evening, flea market staffers sort through the sales tables, removing fast fashion and counterfeit items.”Sometimes we don’t notice these clothes until we ring them up at the checkout. We remove them and contact the owner. Sometimes we throw the clothes in the trash since they can be contaminated with toxins and plastics, Salomaa said.The Finnish flea market’s move is not unique, however. Internationally, some secondhand retail sites have banned fast fashion from their platforms, raising broader questions over how fast fashion should be recycled.Users with an Yle ID can leave comments on our news stories. You can create your Yle ID via this link. Our guidelines on commenting and moderation are explained here.
