On Sept. 11, the Riordan CORE team hosted a fast fashion clothing swap event, bringing the popular trend of thrifting right here to Riordan.
Gathering weeks of clothing donations from the entire Riordan community including faculty, staff and students, these donations consisted of clothing items ranging from anything from hoodies to swim trunks.
Avishan Peer, faculty moderator said, “I really enjoyed the promo part of it, but also folding the clothes and getting ready and seeing all the students swapping and being excited to get new clothes for low costs, that was the best part.”
Those who donated to the fashion swap were allowed to “swap” and select different pieces of clothing from the donations. Everything was first come, first served. Even if students did not donate they could purchase any clothing with all pieces priced at only one dollar. With the tons of clothing left over, they were all donated to local Salvation Army, Goodwill, and Saint Vincent De Paul stores in San Francisco.
Student Briana Alverado ’26 said, “We would walk around R-Time rooms to see if people had any donations, and many people did have some and we sorted all the clothes into piles and set them up outside in the courtyard. I think overall people had a lot of fun participating in it.”
In recent years the idea of “thrifting” has become more and more popular having a lot to do with social media platforms such as Tiktok promoting it in various trends. With this event the CORE team brought thrifting to the Riordan campus. Every item donated was unique, giving students a thrill of uncertainty in the treasures they might find.
This event not only allowed students to explore and find new fashion pieces at low costs but it also helped eliminate waste and support the impoverished in the local San Francisco community.
Kobe Caldwell ’26 said, “I really enjoyed this event because it brought one of my favorite hobbies to Riordan. I go thrifting frequently with my friends and
one of my favorite places to go to is the goodwill bins. This event, although not as chaotic, really imitated a similar atmosphere and allowed me to find new gems to add to my wardrobe.”
Events like this tap into society’s new found enthusiasm and love for thrifting. With this drive the Riordan community is playing a part in not only serving the local community and reducing waste, but also contributing to the ever-growing thrifting craze.
