Marie Kondo and Barilla celebrated Vinted's ugly package culture

They arrive wrapped in bags, stuck in leftover Christmas panettone boxes, broken because they were poorly packed in packaging that doesn't belong to them, and shouldn't be used for mail services. On Vinted, where users sell to make some profit from items unused at the bottom of the wardrobe, every trick is valid to save on shipping costs. Clothes are recycled, shipped around the world (although the most common route for domestic shipments seems to be Italy - France), as well as packages. A true culture has formed around the Vinted app, thanks in particular to university students and students away from home who have turned a hobby into a generational trend. Something Barilla seems to be aware of, as it has enlisted decluttering queen Marie Kondo to teach its customers how to reuse pasta boxes to pack their clothes.

Some people take care to add small gifts and inspirational phrases between the wrapping paper, while others carefully wrap a pair of sunglasses with a diaper. If the item was purchased for three euros, it's not worth buying an envelope for almost half the price, so, in extreme cases, extreme packages. And Barilla's idea, including a guru of that decluttering art so loved by (numerous) order maniacs who have to deal with overloaded closets and drawers that won't close, was truly brilliant. If nothing else, because it does indeed seem to be aware of that common and seldom discussed problem of how to pack one's clothes in the era of the circular economy and secondhand fashion.

The collaboration between Barilla and Marie Kondo doesn't directly mention Vinted, but everything suggests that the idea originated from there. With the aim of celebrating the international day of tidying up and raising awareness on sustainability, the author of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up teaches how to package used clothes using Barilla pasta boxes. Observing how the "flourishing second-hand market" has motivated many people to dive into online buying and selling, it's emphasized that the phenomenon could lead to excessive waste of packaging paper. The Secondhand Box project, available on YouTube, demonstrates which garments to pair with selected pasta packages and how to fold them professionally, so we'll continue to share our purchases and their funny packaging on social media, but this time they'll be properly packaged.