Revibe Culture: Your old finds made new

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INSTAGRAM.COM/REVIBE.CULTURE

JOSEPH L. GARCIA

JOSEPH L. GARCIA

THRIFTING is becoming a trend among fashionistas on a budget, hoping to score designer goods at a fraction of the cost. It can’t be avoided that secondhand goods can come with some tears or dents and dings, but Revibe Culture, the latest brand to join Opus Mall’s Spatio, embraces the damage and turns them into something new.

Started by Bianca Sato in 2018, at first the brand would sell vintage luxury brands. In 2022, at the tail end of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms. Sato shifted to upcycling much of their stock. Some couldn’t be sold anymore due to their condition, so she ripped them up and sewed them anew.

They were offering customization services during a visit at their Spatio display on March 13 (a promo that will run until the end of the month): bring a garment and any “patches” that you want (they also have their own), then these will be combined in a chimera, a pastiche, that one could wear.

The reworked clothes cost upwards of P9,000. Some really premium items can cost up to P15,000 — think an ex-Prada mesh vest torn up and combined with an old Levi’s jacket. She gets past intellectual property laws so long as she never declares them to be official collaborations — but their work has gotten them attention from big brands already. She says they have had an official collaboration with Nike, patching up their old clothes, and with local brand DBTK.

Other premium items include boots combined with torn-up Louis Vuitton bags, jeans with a ripped ex-Fendi item, and an ex-Carhartt sweater patched up with an old and worn Vivienne Westwood bag. She’s essentially delaying a designer item’s trip to the landfill (or wherever damaged designer goods go to die) and giving them a second life.

“We can create something new, exclusive for you,” she told BusinessWorld. “Fashion is evolving.”

For inquiries, visit them at Spatio every weekend until March 31, or at their Instagram page, @revibe.culture.

Spatio is found inside the Opus Mall, Bridgetowne Destination Estate, Bridgetowne Blvd. corner C-5, Quezon City. — Joseph L. Garcia