Thrift or Flip

When I was younger I shopped a lot at value village. I LOVED finding unique pieces that no one else had, or sometimes would alter pieces to my liking. Being from a small town, we were very limited to stores we could shop at. In fact there wasn't a store in my town that catered to my age range, we had to drive to the next town over to shop! Unfortunately with limited options, that meant a lot of people had the same clothing. Which I hated!! Thrift shopping allowed me to express myself through the clothes I wore and stand out.

I remember when I was in public school I asked my aunt to alter some jeans of mine. I requested them to be turned into bell-bottoms by adding in pink and white striped fabric to make the pant leg flare at the hem. They were so different from anything my friends would wear, and I loved them. When I was in college I took a red floor length gown, shortened it and then used the extra fabric to build a very unique collar for a fashion show!

As a fashion designer, I feel guilt living my dream while knowing that I am contributing to a huge waste problem in the world. Which is why I started getting creative and use my scrap fabrics for other purposes to avoid ending up in the landfill. Things like scrunchies, dresses & capes for The Abby Fund, my OOAK collection ect.

A couple of years ago my love for thrifting surfaced again and an idea sparked. I saw an opportunity to make a difference in the clothing industry! I'm so excited to launch my newest collection called Thrift or Flip by EV. This is a collection of thrifted pieces hand picked by me that are either unique, that I've repaired/fixed or that I've flipped.

What does flipped mean? Let me tell you! It's when I take a pre loved article of clothing and upcycle/redesign it into something new. Examples:

I find in our generation when people get a hole in their clothing, loose a button, or pop a seam, they just trash it! Which is part of a HUGE problem in my industry. Unfortunately *fast fashion* is real, and it means manufacturers/designers are mass producing poor quality garments at a very low cost because they're not meant to last. I want to be apart of the solution to this problem!

Thrift or Flip by EV will be a collection focused on sustainability and we're so freaking excited to launch it. You'll be able to shop this collection online & in our shop (once we're allowed to reopen).