LITTLE MANILA, QUEENS, NEW YORK CITY
As part of a public exhibit staged on June 25, 2024, in Little Manila, Queens, NYC, artist Jaclyn Reyes designed illustrations on fabric banners that show the journey of secondhand clothing from the Global North to the Philippines. Each banner portrays key actors across the global supply chain—resellers, sorters, exporters, market vendors, and consumers—foregrounding the human labor and layered histories embedded in used garments.
Clothing consumers buy clothing or fashion accessories for personal use or as gifts, often updating their wardrobes seasonally or as trends evolve. Fast fashion consumers, however, purchase trendy, inexpensive clothing that follows the latest fashions and are quick to discard items, often after only seven wears.
In the US, 11.3 million tons of textile waste end up in landfills, and 3.2 million tons are incinerated.8 Landfills are designated sites for burying waste, handling various types including household trash and industrial debris.9 Incineration plants, or waste- to-energy (WTE) facilities, burn waste at high temperatures to reduce its volume and generate electricity or heat.
When consumers discard clothes, they often go to collectors like non-profits (Goodwill, Salvation Army), for-profit companies, and brands with take- back schemes. In NYC, public initiatives such as donateNYC’s online platform for surplus materials and refashionNYC’s free in-building collection for old clothes and fabrics also serve as collectors.
Thousands of pre-owned items are brought to “graders,” who sort, price, and pack them to bales for export. The grading process is conducted in large facilities, employing a systematic method to assess the condition of each garment. Grading criteria include factors such as fabric quality, color fading, stains or tears, and the overall integrity.
International traders or used clothing exporters buy bales of secondhand clothes and ship them worldwide. The price of these clothes includes labor for collection, sorting, and grading, as well as transportation costs. Export destinations are selected based on cost-effective shipping routes and existing trade geographies.
LOCAL TRADERS / SUPPLIERS
Local traders or wholesalers buy shipping containers filled with sealed 45, 55, or 450 kg bales and boxes of processed secondhand clothing.11 These bales and boxes are kept unopened, and many traders often do not see the contents. Traders work with customs brokers for the release of shipments and take orders from, and sell to, retailers or local suppliers.
Suppliers or retailers buy boxes or bales from local traders or wholesalers, with prices based on a grading system. Class A includes high- quality, brand-name items; Class B contains a mix of quality and mediocre items; and Class C consists of lower-quality items, including spoiled or discarded ones.
The owner or retailer of an ukay-ukay stall buys bales or boxes of secondhand clothing from suppliers and determines the base cost of each item by dividing the total price by the number of items.12 Unsold items are discounted and bargainable after a few months. If still unsold, they are moved to another location or offered in bulk as “take all.” In some cases, clothes are left on the street for anyone to take or converted into rags.