Vintage clothing is undoubtedly in style. The longevity and quality of clothing from earlier generations inspires young people to collect vintage apparel, and some know how to make a profit off of it.
Muzi’s Marketplace
Muzi’s Marketplace founder Josh Muzi said he found a creative passion for fashion around two years ago. Since then he has been doing pop-ups and selling on his Depop account.
“I started buying a lot of clothes and at a certain point I started to have too many clothes. I thought, ‘Why only shop for myself when I could shop for other people?’” he said.
When buying clothes for his business, Muzi said he likes to buy based on what he would want to wear. He said he takes pride in seeing customers wear his clothing and takes it as a compliment.
“A lot of stuff in the 80s, 90s and 2000s people enjoyed and our parents enjoyed. I like those fashion trends, so I’m trying my best to bring that back in a way and make it affordable,” he said. With so much surplus of clothing from a fast fashion culture, Muzi said he wants to focus on quality clothing.
Being in Eugene has helped Muzi Marketplace expand its reach to local sales. One resource Muzi has capitalized on is renting out a space in front of the EMU for pop-up shops.
“In Eugene and at the University of Oregon, there’s a big student base that connects and has the same pop culture,” Muzi said. All four of Muzi’s pop-ups have been a success and have made it easier to connect to a local clientele, and his next popup is planned for Thursday, Nov. 9th.
Right now, he estimates 70% of his sales come from his Depop account. Despite this, he said he notices his customers enjoy being able to try clothing on at the pop-ups more than shopping online.
Shop Andie’s Closet
Andie Taylor, founder of Shop Andie’s Closet, said she first started selling clothing as a hobby in the seventh grade. Since then, her hobby has become a full-fledged business with its own website and Depop, shipping orders internationally.
“Once I hit high school, I got a car, I drive myself to the thrift stores. That’s when I started feeling like I really turned it into a business, started growing a following and having more return regular customers,” she said.
Shop Andie’s Closet has been a big success for Taylor business-wise. She said her business has helped her rely on herself financially. It has helped put her through school, pay for her car and is currently her sole source of income.
Taylor said that, depending on the season, she gets anywhere from two to 20 sales a day, with summers being the busy season. Her customers come from all over, with orders going out as far as Australia. However, she tries to limit these sales as the international shipping process is more complicated than the domestic one.
“A big goal of mine is getting more people to wear renewable fashion and getting more renewable pieces out there. It’s really cool to have people from other countries wearing clothes from America that were reduced, reused, recycled and now they’re going global,” she said.
Founded Vintage
Founded Vintage, located at 749 Willamette Street, was opened in June 2022 by founder Peter Michaels. Michaels is a Eugene native who opened his store after six years of selling clothing online.
Michaels talked extensively about the lack of vintage markets in Eugene. He said the ones that do exist are geared towards an older audience looking for antiques rather than clothing. His response to this was creating his own vintage market, the Founded and Friends Flea.
In June 2023, the first of two iterations of this flea market at the Farmers Market Pavilion and Plaza had free beer, live music and 28 stalls, according to Michaels. The follow-up in October replicated the success of the first with another 28 stalls.
“I really see it as kind of like community building. For instance, we have a rack of like, this is a streetwear brand that alternates every few months,” Michaels said. The streetwear brand on the rack is Apparent Apparel. Michaels said the designer sprays the shirts with lemon juice then leaves them on a roof for days to get their unique sun-dye.
Apart from that rack, Michaels said he likes to put the work of local artists and brands in his store.
Perhaps the most clear sign of Michaels’ love for his hometown’s fashion scene is the Further T-shirt on his wall. The shirt was designed by Eugene’s own artist Zane Kesey, son of author Ken Kesey, founder of the Merry Pranksters. The Pranksters were followers of Kesey and drove around in a suped-up psychedelic school bus known as Further. The shirt is a true relic of Eugene history and is one of the few things not for sale in the store.
Between these three, all of your second-hand clothing needs should be fulfilled. Look out for future pop-ups from Muzi’s Marketplace in the near future and Founded’s next flea expected to be around June 2024. In the meantime, check out Founded in person, or Shop Andie’s Closet and Muzi’s Marketplace at their respective online stores.
Muzi’s Marketplace — Instagram: muzi.marketplace Depop: joshmuzi
Shop Andie’s Closet — Instagram: shopandiescloset Website: https://www.shopandiescloset.com/ Depop: andie_taylor
Founded Vintage — Instagram: founded_vtg
