Sustainable Fashion: An interview with Magdalena Krutsky
I want to introduce you to my talented and inspiring friend, Magdalena, a sustainable fashion designer. We worked together at the beginning of the 2000’s at the apparel brand Tommy Bahama, which at that time, was just starting to really build and grow. - Vicki O.
Magdalena went on from TB to design apparel for a number of well-known brands such as Union Bay, Eddie Bauer, Worn and Forever21. Eventually though, she had had enough. The bad practices of the apparel industry, the constant need to produce more and more product faster and faster, were not sitting well with her and hadn’t been for a long time.
So in 2016 she decided to come full circle back to her roots and her first love; vintage and sustainable fashion, hand crafted, unique styles that are one-of-a-kind. She relaunched a business she had created in 1991, long before she ever stepped into corporate apparel. Now, she once again creates upcycled/vintage styles which she sells at a number of LA and Orange County markets.
Back in the 90’s when she first launched her company, she was ahead of her time. Upcycled clothing was popular, but with the huge engine that is social media yet to be developed, (Pinterest and Instagram both launched in 2010, for example) it was a micro-trend in a very big world of other competing trends. Today, with dozens of on-line direct-to-consumer companies involved in this industry, resale is a multibillion-dollar industry.
Threadup, a leader in the Resale market, conducted their annual Resale report with third party research and analytics firm GlobalData. Now, granted, this research was conducted by a Resale company to tell us that Resale matters. However, statistics from recent history is hard to refute. Think about this –
In 2009 the traditional Thrift & Donation industry was at $10B and the Resale industry as we know it today did not even exist.
By 2019, Thrift & Donation had grown to $21B and Resale had come into being and was already at $7B.
By 2029 it is expected that Thrift & Donation will have grown to $36B and Resale will have grown into a $44B industry.
Between 2019 and 2024, Resale is projected to grow by 414%, Thrift & Donation by 34% and All Retail Clothing is projected to shrink by 4%.
In a June blog post by Fashionista, Threadup president Anthony S. Marino echoed what I’ve heard from trend services and individual thought leaders in the past 6 months, that the pandemic has accelerated trends in consumer behavior that were already underway.
“Shelter-in-place catalyzed the shift to shopping online,” he shares as one example, adding the prioritization of value as another. “Consumers who may have taken a bit longer to come around [to shopping secondhand], Covid may have pushed them into our court.” He also feels that, in the same way the 2009 recession drove interest in off-price retailers (Nordstrom Rack, T.J. Maxx, etc.), the current economic crisis is driving interest in secondhand.
They concluded that, “While the broader retail segment is projected to shrink by 23% this year, due in part to Covid-19, online secondhand is expected to grow by 27%, according to the 2020 Resale Report.”
Over the last three years, while I’ve been reporting on the rise of the retail market, I have also been following Madalena and her growing business. I thought I would reach out to her and get some first-hand intel and get her take on how her personal economy within the Resale and Upcycle business is doing, who her customers are and if they have changed in the past few months.
Vicki: How long have you been making sustainable fashion in this way and making it a business?
Magdalena: I started this used/vintage clothing reworking and upcycling back in 1991, shortly after I came to states with my family. In my various over 20 years long cooperate career path as a Fashion designer, I always picked up this vintage/upcycled market as needed between jobs. Finally about 4 years ago I just realized, I do not want to go back to the office anymore and I’m doing this full time now. So I would say the last stretch is almost 4 years.
Vicki: Have you found that your customer base has changed in the past couple of years? Who is your target audience? Has that target changed since you started the business?
Magdalena: I don’t think that customer base necessarily changed. I do sell at various markets which each have slightly different demographics and style, but overall it feels that people are just more aware of the fashion environmental impact, concerned with sustainability and are leaving fast fashion for nostalgic vintage and customized one of a kind pieces. My customers range from teenagers to baby boomers, and again that hasn’t really changed, it’s just that the volume of people now interested in this type of clothing has increased.
Vicki: How do you find the styles and materials you need to create these pieces?
Magdalena: I shop around local thrift-stores and garage sales, that’s how I find my potential pieces and materials. Also, every time I travel anywhere, I’m always checking out thrift stores!
Vicki: Do you have any certifications that you either have or want to have regarding making sustainable clothing? Does such a thing exist? Would it or does it make a difference to your customer do you think?
Magdalena: I’m not sure if there is any certification. I’m involved with anything recycled and that is, by definition, sustainable. I use only vintage or used clothing and all patch materials are created out of used clothing, linens, tablecloths, or anything I find in thrift/ vintage stores. I would say 98% what I sell is completely re-used. I use only new needles and threads.
Vicki: With your online store, are you finding that your customers are local? US-based only? Global?
Magdalena: I’m not set up for global. I was doing only markets and occasionally selling through Instagram. However, as Covid-19 hit, I finally was forced to develop an easy website. My customers are mostly local and US based, however many of the markets I sell in are tourist destinations, such as the Rose Bowl and Huntington Beach markets. So, because of that I see people buying my face masks, sweatshirts and tees as presents to take back home with them, which takes the purchases around the country at the very least.
Vicki: Are people sharing with you where they are wearing your pieces?
Magdalena: My styles are very casual and beach inspired. I know my tees are big hit with young girls who normally wear them to school. I had a customer buying my denim saying she would be wearing it to sing at her concert. Denim jackets & pants are pricier and in normal circumstances they are worn to concerts and festivals, etc.
Vicki: Everyone keeps asking me if sustainability is ACTUALLY going to continue in retail when those items are often more expensive than fast fashion. So now that the majority of people have less money to spend, or are being more cautious about their money, in your opinion, will they actually buy ‘slow fashion’?
Magdalena: My experience is, that if it is special enough – they will buy it + no one else has that item, it’s one-of-a-kind + I’m supporting a clean environment + I’m a small business. All of those factors matter to people and even young girls are willing to pay more to support these ideals.
Vicki: Thanks for your view from the real world of Sustainable Fashion, Mag! Keep up the great work!