All the gear, no idea: ‘Fake tradies’ splash cash on ‘the new Billabong’

Aussies are paying hundreds for damaged goods — all to get the hottest look. Some retailers are even cutting off labels and sticking them on other stock.

Young Aussies don’t want to be tradies — they just want to look like ‘em.

While apprenticeship enrolments continue to plummet, sales of ripped and paint-splattered workwear are exploding on the second-hand market, with some dealers saying the price tags they’re able to slap on threadbare pre-owned items nearly dwarf the cost of brand-new stock.

“The dirtier it is, the more expensive,” says TK Haireka, who manages The Real Deal in Sydney’s hipster haven of Newtown.

Inez Bolton, a sales assistant at second-hand outlet Uturn, agrees.

“The more stained it is, it looks older and people think it’s more authentic or original and they’ll buy it,” she says.

Carhartt, the durable workwear brand that first launched in Detroit in 1889 and had a taste of mainstream popularity on the ’90s hip-hop scene, is the holy grail. Everyone from uni students to model Gigi Hadid and Elvis heart-throb Austin Butler is paying big bucks to fetishise the working class.

“Anything with the Carhartt logo. The brand has gotten so big that anyone will take anything that has the label on it,” Ms Bolton says.

“We have stuff with, like, broken zips – but it’s Carhartt and people still love to buy it.”

The brand’s swirly orange logo has become an accessory all its own. Ms Bolton says she knows of workers at other vintage stores who cut the Carhartt labels off items that are too damaged to trade and sew them onto completely different items of clothing before reselling.

‘They’re my whole personality,’ Carlos Gorga, 23, says of his $250 Carhartt pants. Picture: news.com.au/James Weir

All the gear, no idea: Looking like a tradie is in while, according to the stats, actually being a tradie is out. Picture: news.com.au/James Weir

While Uturn general manager Katie Revie says workwear has become popular among Gen Z as a way of coping with cost-of-living pressures, the hype surrounding Carhartt’s crossover to street style has pushed some traditional vintage stores to boycott it. One dealer cynically dubs the brand “the new Billabong”.

“We don’t sell Carhartt. Nothing trendy,” says Leo Theodore, who peddles denim jackets from a roadside stall on King Street. “We’re living in a time where everything is fabricated. People are just sold ideas.”

Harry Starr, co-founder of Restated Vintage, saw the Carhartt trend booming abroad in the US and UK three years ago but says it was initially “hit-and-miss” with local customers. That changed in recent months. He now imports more than 50 pre-owned Carhartt items a week, with stock selling out within the fortnight.

‘They’ve got a cool little tool loop on the side,’ says Maeve, 21, whose Carhartt pants ‘had sh*t all over them’ when they were purchased. Picture: news.com.au/James Weir

“Now influencers and celebrities have been spotted wearing the jackets and the pants, the trend has just exploded,” he says.

He sources pre-owned stock from overseas, with jackets and carpenter pants bought wholesale for between $45 to $65. The items are then sold in-store for up to $400. Mr Starr says there’s one hot-ticket item: the Carhartt Detroit jacket.

“We’ve probably only had 10 of them,” he says of the pre-owned parkers, which he purchased wholesale for around $50 and sold for $600. “Now they’ve become super hard to find.”

Sydneysiders rocking ‘the new Billabong’. Picture: news.com.au/James Weir

Those unable to get their hands on a well-worn version of the jacket are settling for freshly minted editions. Online Aussie retailer The Iconic says searches for the Detroit jacket have spiked 133 per cent this winter, while searches for the brand’s work pants have increased 67 per cent.

“It’s my whole personality,” Carlos Gorga, 23, jokes about his $250 Carhartt pants.

He’s a landscaper but abstains from wearing the trousers for labour. They’re strictly far-shun.

“My friends know I spent a lot of money on them and they think it’s a joke.”

Far-shun but make it working class. Picture: news.com.au/James Weir

Recent data from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research shows an 8.8 per cent dip in apprentices and trainees in 2023's December quarter - a year-on-year decline of 32,980 people.

Maeve Smith, 21, works as a sales assistant at a stationery store and, in theory, can store lots of pens in the utility pockets of her paint-splattered Carhartt trousers.

“I stole them from a friend and he bought them second-hand — they had sh*t all over them,” she says.

The best part about them?

“They’ve got this cool little tool loop on the side.”

Facebook: @hellojamesweir