The Vintage Lifecycle
THE VINTAGE LIFECYCLE
WHERE DO ALL OUR CLOTHES COME FROM?
You're probably wondering where all of these awesome vintage clothes actually come from. Well, we're about to let you in on this (not so) secret information. As you are already aware most vintage is second hand and has been previously worn and discarded by it's original owner. This doesn't include dead-stock clothing which may have been sat in a storage warehouse unused for years or even decades before it is discovered or sold on to vintage retailers.
One way or another the clothes have ended up in a clothing recycling bank or donated to various charities across the world. Textile recycling companies will then sort through huge amounts of second-hand and pre-loved clothing that it has either been collected from it's recycling bank network or purchased in large quantities from charities who don't have the shelf space in their shops to stock the massive amounts of clothing that is donated to them on a daily basis. The recycling company has staff picking out pieces that are classed as vintage or different in-demand clothing lines which are then sold on to the vintage retailers in bulk consignments.
As a retailer we then sort and grade the clothing to make sure it meets our strict levels of quality control and is on trend before selling on to our loyal customers. Most of our vintage is also machine washed before being sent out to make sure it reaches the customer in as fresh a condition as can be. If we find any items during the sorting process that we can't sell we either rework these items or donate them to charity and the cycle continues.