When I started Prelovely I did not intend on building an eco-conscious brand. I can’t lie to you and say I’ve spent my life as a champion for environmental causes. Sure, I do all the typical things. Recycle plastic & paper waste via my city’s curbside pick up, avoid littering and strive to be conscious of my water usage. Like I said, the typical stuff.
What I have been my entire life is a lover of fashion. It started way back in the day when me, my mom and grandmother would spend our weekends in malls, boutiques and department stores. Shopping! We went from Nordstrom, to Robinsons May to Target, to a lovely Korean-owned boutique where my Grama bought her church suits. It was our way of bonding and spending quality time together. From my recollection we did this nearly every weekend.
As a young girl I never really paid attention to the amount of clothing the three of us were accumulating. It just seemed natural. Unbeknownst to my mom & grama, they were grooming me to be a good ole’ American consumer.
Oh how the grooming worked famously! As I grew into adulthood my habits did not change. I continued to shop unconsciously and fill my closet with clothes I would never wear. Rinse and repeat. I did this for years, until rather recently when something changed.
What changed?
It is, in fact, being in this business that inspired me to become more environmentally conscious. Over the 2+ years I’ve spent reselling, I’ve found myself awestruck at the over abundance of beautiful, preloved clothing (and other “stuff”) all waiting for a new home. I’ve spent endless hours in thrift stores, going from Stockholm, Sweden to Encinitas, Mexico, scoring absolute treasures. Things that had become useless to their former owners.
Wherever I go in the world I continue to find everything from loads and loads of unworn Forever 21 & Urban Outfitters to pristine, preloved, designer pieces by Acne, AllSaints, Rag & Bone, Marc Jacobs and many more. All of them sitting in a dusty charity shop, hoping to avoid a landfill.
This being the case, I can no longer justify my frivolous, former pastime. I’ve virtually ceased buying new and am committed to living a life of more style + less stuff.
In terms of building my biz, what exactly does this mean?
Prelovely inherently has an environmentally conscious component to it. We sell preloved clothes. Keeping things out of landfills, re-using whats already here and we're not extracting earth's resources to create something new. That's great. As an individual and a brand I know there's room to do more. I've identified other areas where Prelovely can improve, starting with our packaging. I'm currently sourcing eco-friendly options and look forward to sharing my finds and progress with you here in this journal.
Whether you're a buyer, a brand-builder or both, the key to making these changes is starting small. Let us all go forth, taking baby steps that lead to giant leaps!
My beautiful grama. Before she transitioned (in June of 2016), I would take her on thrift-store-treasure-hunts with me. She loved shopping second hand just as much as buying new. I miss her so very much.
Descending into heaven. A peek at what thrifting in Paris, France looks like. I'm wearing a pair of vintage shoes I scored in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Speaking of Denmark check out all the lovely, preloved things in this Danish shop. Swoon, if only I owned a container!
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SPEAK! Leave a comment with any suggestions you have for living a more eco-conscious life or for building an eco-friendly brand. It'll help us all!