HALIFAX’S TRENDIEST THRIFT STORE Jaymee Huggins- June 2015 With the environment being at the top of everyone’s agendas and retailers always looking towards sustainable fashion, there is one boutique in Halifax already miles ahead. Makenew Curated Thrift Shop, owned and run by Anna Gilkerson, is Halifax’s most fashionable destination for preowned fashion. Located downtown, Makenew hosts ‘carefully selected pre-owned clothing with an emphasis on quality and minimal fashion forward style’. We spoke to Anna to find out more and find out why we should all be thrifting!
What inspired you to start selling pre owned clothing? “I thrifted a lot and I had a lot of clothing I had collected over the years. After I had my daughter and had taken a break from my first ethical clothing line (Deux fm) I decided to sell it all. I knew I wanted to sell it in an interesting way to get people's attention online so I decided to shoot it in collection inspired themes. The first one was called 'On the Road to Sicily' it was quite dark and gothic. Lots of black but then bursts of citrus color thrown in. It was pretty wild. I shot it on a model in lookbook style and that's how Makenew started. I called it Makenew because I was giving all these random items of clothing a fresh start. A place to belong in a collection. I wanted it to feel very cohesive and current.”
Whilst looking for pre owned items, where do you usually source your products and what catches you eye whilst looking?
‘The thrill of the find is what fuels the hunt’
“I hunt at all the second hand clothing shops- the ones where you really have to dig to find the gems. It's a lot of travel and can be hard work but I love it. The thrill of the find is what fuels the hunt. I always say it's about the senses. Touch is number one. Does it feel good? Does it feel
like silk? What is the quality? It's really easy to feel quality. Then I go to sight what's the color, what's the label, what's the condition. I rely on my ability to move fast but not miss a single item. I often hit four to five shops in a day or up to eight nine of I make a trip out of it. I pretty much thrift daily as I hit the few same
ones in my area all the time. Consistency is important and it's what divides the people who do it for a living and the people who casually thrift once in a while. I usually haul at least four to five big garbage bags of stuff when I do a big trip. I'm pickier now though... I've really honed in on the brand and exactly what our customer will buy so I def shop thinking about that. I edit like crazy in each place I go. "Will she wear this? Would I wear this?" Then the final check is for the stains etc. It's amazing how much people throw out instead of just washing a little stain out. No big deal. Some stains will not come out and those items I throw back. Keeping the clothing in the shop looking brand new is the goal. The shop really doesn't look or feel like a second hand shop.” What are your favourite fashion trends this summer? “The colors white and blue. Denim on denim on denim. Patched denim. Vintage Levis 501's and 505's (mens) Bohemian jewelry. Straw hats. “ If you could use one hashtag to describe your company what would it be? “ #thriftlove and #thriftculture used back to back. Älskling our new shop line would be #ethicalfashion “
Whats in the pipelines for Makenew in the future? “Expansion. Maybe not to multiple stores I don't know...Def a larger store and I my partner also works in fashion and is an artist so I'm pretty sure we will join forces soon it just takes time to plan. Älskling has def been my baby for about a year now so to see that launch is pretty exciting. It's all made in Halifax and we only sell it direct through the shop as an 'in house line' and online. It's an extension to the Makenew brand and speaks to our already existing customers but I hope to speak to new customers who want newly made ethical clothing. Ethical being: paying living wages, fabrics are upcycled, organic or from Canadian mills, the styles are modern but not super trend driven so our customer can wear them for multiple seasons, great quality and still affordable as we cut out the middle man so quality locally made clothing can be affordable to most.”
Visit Makenew at 2468 Agricola St. Halifax, NS B3K 4C2 https://twitter.com/_Makenew https://instagram.com/makenew/ http://curatedthrift.tumblr.com/ https://www.facebook.com/curatedthriftshop