An app that brings vintage clothes shopping to your fingertips is going from “clicks” to “bricks” with its first New York City store.
Depop, a British app that fashion-savvy millennials use to buy and sell both new and vintage clothing, opens Friday on Mott Street with merchandise by local artists and sellers.
Much like eBay, it gives a platform to sellers and designers while offering an easy shopping experience to users, but it is used largely by younger creatives and fashionistas on their phones.
Some teens are making as much as $10,000 a month selling clothes, according to the company.
When you set up your profile, you are asked to share your aesthetic to help the app select clothing you’d be interested in. A lot of what’s on trend now, like streetwear and 1990s throwbacks by brands like Reebok, Tommy Hilfiger and Levi’s, are “definitely having a moment,” according to Joan Costello, the company’s head of marketing for the U.S.
With that in mind, its New York debut includes a curated collection called “Depop Loves New York,” inspired by the city and sold by New Yorkers themselves.
Slumpy Kev, a designer from Queens, has already gotten passers-by to stop in front of the new shop’s windows because you can see his designs that are painted on clothing with beloved characters from the Cartoon Network (like Courage the Cowardly Dog, for instance).
Sandy Liang from the Lower East Side has repurposed Depop-supplied vintage clothing into unique dresses.
Then there are vintage T-shirts with Yankees and Mets logos, old tourist shirts from the 1990s and classic DKNY merch.
Local sellers are at the forefront, and that’s what Depop’s founder, Simon Beckerman, really wants the physical shop to be about.
“It’s about creating community,” he told amNewYork at the new shop. “It’s our dream for people to come and hang out and a place to be if you need to feel creative and need a place to showcase your work.”
That’s why there’s a photo studio in the back of the shop. Sellers are welcome to use the equipment to photograph their merchandise and join a number of workshops Depop will hold on how to take better photos and even how to ship something.
The shop will also have monthly “lunch n’ list” sessions, where entrepreneurs can bring their merch to upload their content and help style and learn from each other.
Many users on the app are selling on Depop as their full-time jobs and may need a place to be inspired, Costello said.
Recently hitting 10 million downloads, Depop has grown quickly since 2011, when it started in Milan, Italy, (where Beckerman is from).
When Beckerman, who also co-created RETROSUPERFUTURE sunglasses, started working on e-commerce for his magazine, PIG, he realized the younger generation, having grown up on social media, needed a place not only to buy and sell but also display their talents.
“I wanted to showcase new, creative people,” he said. “Because of the nature of the app, young kids started opening up their wardrobes and started selling their stuff. It’s a marketplace for all.”
Depop is open weekdays from noon to 8 p.m. and on weekends from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at 168 Mott St.
