If you’re looking to reinvent your wardrobe in a sustainable—and seriously cheap—way, then look no further than London kilo sales. Over the past few years, increasing numbers of London-based stores and pop-up shops have started selling their clothes by weight. It’s a trend which began in Holland and parts of eastern Europe, but it’s now seen all around the world.
Much like flea markets in London but with clothes only, regular Kilo sales are popping up at various venues round the city, some are free and some charge a small entry fee.
Brixton Village Kilo Sale
The Kilo Sale pop-up at Pop Brixton is a full weekend’s worth of bargain shopping. Stock will be replenished throughout the day on both days, and there’s a huge selection of both men’s and women’s clothes, including shirts, flannel, blouses and jackets. They accept cash, card, Apple Pay and Google Pay at all events.
- Price: £15.00 per kilo
- Entry: free
- When: The first weekend of each month (except 2nd for Jan)
Preloved Vintage Kilo
Shop through 9 tonnes of preloved, vintage and retro clothing at the Preloved Vintage Kilo pop-up. London events are held: Peckham Levels, Arlington Conference Centre (right by Camden Town station), and the Round Chapel (Hackney).The stock is handpicked and individually graded by a team, meaning the quality of this kilo sale is particularly high. Preloved Vintage Wholesale say they saved more than 200 tonnes of clothing from landfill in 2019 and work tirelessly to ensure their waste is kept to a minimum. All the vintage classics (post 1960s) are available, from retro blouses and shirts to leather, branded sportswear and accessories.
- Price: £20.00 per kilo
- Entry: £1.50 general / £2.00 Green (tree planting partnership with Play It Green)
- When: Various times, see their website for details
PicknWeight, Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a great area for vintage finds, and relative newcomer PicknWeight takes the per kilo model and applies it to a regular shop. The original store opened in Hamberg, and now Londoners have a place to shop for vintage by weight without having to go on a specific date or pay an entry fee. It’s the first standalone kilo shop of its kind in the UK, although you can probably expect to pay a little more per weight than at markets. There are three price tiers, each with its own colour tag from £30 (red) – to £100 (purple). But, there are further bargains to be had with occasional flash sale weeks, where everything is on red or £30 per kilo.
- Price: £30.00 per kilo
- Entry: free
- When: Various times, see their website for details
Thrift Factory, Silvertown
If you don’t fancy navigating the PickNWeight tag system, then take a trip to deepest east London (Pontoon Dock, DLR), where you can pick up a kilo of items (clothes, shoes, bags) for £10 at Thrift Factory. It’s a warehouse with a daily sale, although the website is rather basic (with no pictures), so we can only hazard a guess at quality control over what’s on offer, but if you’re in the market for a trip on the DLR and rummage through some vintage — it might just be worth a punt. Thrift Factory also has outlets in Birmingham and Nottingham.
- Price: £10.00 per kilo
- Entry: free
- When: daily
More Vintage Shopping
For vintage shopping 7 days a week, see our article on vintage clothing stores in London . If you like a bit of bric-a-brac too, do check out some of the flea markets in London and for the ultimate cheapo experience, dive in early and rummage through one of the many car boot sales in London this weekend.
This post was originally published in March 2020. Last updated: September 12th, 2023.
