I owned a VW Multivan from the late 90s. I'm currently searching for one again. I own an audio system that's older than some of my friends(that might be slightly exaggerated). My favourite jacket came from a flea market in Vienna and has no brand tag anyone recognizes. And I think this makes perfect sense in 2026.
The dominant logic of consumer culture is: new is better, new is safer, new is aspirational. I've arrived at the opposite conclusion. For most things, old is better — and I can explain why.
Built differently
There's a generation of products — electronics, furniture, clothing, vehicles — made between roughly 1970 and 2000 that occupies a strange sweet spot. Manufacturing quality was high (before cost-cutting optimization became an art form). Design had matured past the clunky early decades of an era. And planned obsolescence hadn't yet become the product strategy.
My Multivan has been repaired a dozen times. Each repair is documented, understood, fixable. A modern vehicle of equivalent age would have electronics that are genuinely irreparable — the diagnostic tool for it no longer exists, or the software is locked, or the parts were only ever available through a dealership that closed.
Repairability is a feature. We forgot that.
The aesthetics argument
The 90s and early 2000s had a visual confidence that's been largely lost. Look at graphic design, furniture design, industrial design from that era — there's a clarity to it. Things looked like what they were.
Modern design oscillates between aggressive minimalism (everything is a grey rectangle) and maximalist nostalgia (brands desperately referencing the past to feel authentic). Neither is as good as the original.
When you surround yourself with things that were designed with conviction, it does something to your environment. The objects carry intention.
The economic argument
Quality vintage goods hold value in a way new goods almost never do. The jacket I bought for €2 at a flea market is more worth to me than an identical version selling for €300 in curated secondhand shops in Berlin. The music system I paid €80 for is listed online for €250. Yes, its a Beosound Ouverture....what a beauty!
New goods depreciate the moment you own them. Good old things appreciate the moment enough people rediscover them.
What I'm actually saying
I'm not making an argument for nostalgia. I'm not saying everything was better before. I'm saying that in the rush toward new, we've systematically undervalued things that were made with care, that last, that can be repaired, and that carry genuine aesthetic conviction.
Buy less. Buy older. Buy things you can fix.
The flea market is one of the most underrated places on earth.