Many people give old clothes away to a good cause; all too often they assume that their old togs will go straight to the needy. Nothing is further from the truth. From the tons of unfashionable clothes in huge warehouses, traders take the pieces they see as profitable. Since the mid-sixties and thanks to the hippie movement, second-hand clothing has become an essential fashion phenomenon with many scenes and frequent new trends. The traders try to anticipate or even create new trends, for instance by going in search of throw-aways from the former Eastern Block. The growth and flourishing of second-hands reflects major changes in Western cultural values.

In Rag Trade Lony Scharenborg takes a look at the world of second-hand clothes with three protagonists. Amsterdam flea-market trader Ger Horn represents the history and development of the trade. Laura Dols has a shop in the trendy Jordaan district and is more interested in quality and status of the clothes themselves, in other words the passion for the cultural heritage of the man or woman in the street. André Noorda belongs to a new generation of designers and stylists who make use of what they find at second-hand markets for their fashion. All three are developing new ideas and markets.

Director: Lony Scharenborg
Cinematography: Annette Hamilton, Bernd Wouthuysen
Editor: Michiel van Oosterzee
Sound: Ruud Monster, Bouwe Mulder
Producers: Jan Heijs, Ruud Monster for JURA Filmprodukties

41 min., 16mm, colour, The Netherlands, 1996