Interview with Founder

Interview with Clare, Retold’s Founder

Interviewer: Please could you tell me about the process you go through when planning and sourcing your collections?

Clare: I don’t source in collections, I source pieces, when I find them. I have my own personal criteria when I source in terms of the style of it, or the colour, if there’s a print and the fabric is really important to me. And obviously the condition has to be a certain level. A good thing to know about vintage is especially when it gets managed from a wholesale perspective, they grade it on the quality and then that dictates the price. So, the quality is really important for me, the kind of level that I like. I have certain designers that I always love and that my customers really like.

I look out for them and have a very set aesthetic. So, my minimal clean aesthetic is my criteria. I always think about whether I would personally wear it. And if it isn’t something that I would personally wear, then I wouldn’t take it. When I pull collections together, I go through all my reels and get the whole story together. I like to have items that compliment each other so that everything in the collection could be worn together and swapped in and out.

Interviewer: Who is your target market?

Clare: I think she’s late 20s, right up to the mid 50s. It’s hard to say whether I appeal to students or not. I don’t have a massive student customer base, mainly because of my price point. I’d say she’s a little bit older, probably has more of a disposable income, is sustainably minded and enjoys supporting small independent brands. Shopping more consciously is important to her.

I think now people are seeing vintage can work alongside a very contemporary wardrobe, and that looks and works well for them. There’s lots of different choice out there now and it’s definitely given a broader range of wardrobes and customer.

Interviewer: I saw that you recently joined HURR Collective, what are your hopes for Retold’s presence on the rental platform?

Clare: I definitely want to increase that collection, I could say really everything on there could be rented. I like picking pieces that are stand out because once something is sold it’s gone and the garment can only be loved by one person. I almost kind of didn’t want to let them go in a way.

Interviewer: What are your dreams for the future of Retold?

Clare: I really want Retold to be this go to place for shopping consciously. I’m working at the moment on developing my consignment side of the business, so that’s kind of selling people’s items for them. Trying to encourage people to really kind of look at their wardrobes and see realistically what they’re wearing and what they’re not wearing, giving people another avenue of how to get rid of items that they don’t want any more. I still love doing my collaborations and supporting other brands that are also doing great things in terms of resale or creating conscious items.

Retold, 2021.