Model: @elisha_janae
In the height of online retail and vintage resell, Texas-based business Oddballl Vintage manages to set itself apart from the rest. Open since 2016, Oddballl specializes in selling unique, funky, and one of a kind second-hand clothing. The owners carefully curate their inventory in order to provide customers with a wide array of colors, style eras, silhouettes and sizes. Not only do they act as a retailer, the owners of Oddballl work closely with the community as artists, stylists, creative directors, and so much more.
Oddballl’s Instagram page @oddballlvintage is also nothing short of amazing and perfectly encapsulates its colorfulness as a brand. The feed is full of beautifully vivid product shots, era-based style inspiration, visually pleasing edits, and nostalgic photoshoots styled with items from the shop’s inventory. While a lot of its business comes from the app Depop, the vintage shop also has a physical location inside Stardust Vintage in Austin. I had the amazing opportunity to receive a mystery box from Oddballl, as well as interview Lauren Mahoney, one of the owners of this incredibly fun business!
Q: What is your role in Oddballl and what does it entail?
A: I am the owner of Oddballl Vintage. We are a SUPER small business, and it’s just me and my partner Will. We do absolutely everything: sourcing clothing, social media, event planning, graphic design, customer service, manage our online stores, merchandise and maintain our multiple in-store locations, shipping and handling, laundry and mending, and our most favorite part: the artwork and visual design behind our brand. The list goes on – and it’s always changing over time. It can be a lot. But we love all aspects of the business, so we still have fun with the juggle.
Q: How long has Oddballl been up and running, and what gave you the idea to start selling vintage clothing?
A: We have been around since 2016! We have always been huge collectors. I started a small shop in college in 2014, but it was too complicated to run a business with my college school schedule. Once I was more established in my career in Marketing, I thought I could start a business part-time. We grew so quickly and had a lot of support, so I decided to quit my corporate job and go all-in with Oddballl.
Q: Where do you find the vintage clothes that you sell in your store?
A: We find our inventory everywhere! We have to travel a lot though, because nowadays the market is overwhelmingly oversaturated in Austin. So many cooks in the kitchen. We find the best product when we travel, which is a hobby we also adore!
Q: You sell your pieces on the Depop app and currently have over 20k followers. Why did you choose Depop in particular to sell on and why do you think your store has become so popular on there?
A: We love Depop so much, because of the community aspect. At first, we were selling on Etsy, but it became a little “bland” for us. The fees were outrageous and there was a lot of limitations. We started Depop, because we were hearing a lot of good things about it from colleagues, and decided to hop on. The platform allowed us to grow super quickly, and we were contacted by Depop and asked to meet them at their home office in NYC for a chat. They gave us a lot of pointers and support that really helped us grow. We feel so grateful because we think they saw something special in us and worked to help us thrive. I will never forget the support of the Depop team. They’re amazing.
Q: In addition to selling online, I understand that Oddballl also sells in a physical location in the form of a pop up shop. Tell us a little bit about that, and how you guys set up shop!
A: We are currently located in Stardust Vintage in ATX, and inside of a tiny shop in San Marcos called Hideaway on Hopkins. We love being able to create our own brand atmosphere and have a physical location where our community can shop. Having a physical store helps us express ourselves artistically and continue our passion for art and merchandising.
Q: Not only does Oddballl sell clothes, but they also offer wardrobe styling and art direction. How do you go about the styling process and what has been your favorite project in terms of art direction and styling?
A: One of our favorite aspects of our business is our wardrobe styling projects. We’ve styled various live TV news segments, music videos, and editorials. It’s something we really adore and we hope we can keep exploring. We never ever wanted to just be a shop that puts clothing on a rack and calls it a day. We always wanted to use our passion for art and styling to make a vision come alive. That’s why styling is so special to us. It is an active and collaborative process.
Usually, when a client hires us, they give us the vision, details and inspiration for the project. We do a lot of research and self-sourcing to make sure that our direction is thorough and on-point and that each actor / model is styled according to their individual character and body type. It’s so fun to watch a project come together with input from a creative team filled with different skills and talents. We love working with other creatives, which makes styling so fun.
Q: Oddballl is a big believer in collaboration with other artists, sellers and businesses. How do you think your business has benefitted from working with others in collaboration?
A: Collaboration is such a wonderful thing. It’s so exciting to work on a vision with other creatives and watch it come to life. Collaboration not only helps us network and gain friendships, it also helps us explore art in a more thorough manner. It’s so fun to learn from other people and to explore ideas from different perspectives.
Q: Last, but not least, what is your favorite decade of fashion and why?
A: My favorite fashion might have to be the 60s. Since I’m a big fan of color, I really adore that the 60s allowed for a lot of color and pattern exploration. Even though color TVs were invented in the 50s, most Americans didn’t have a color TV in their home until the 60s. This could be the reason why we see so many bright colors in 60s fashions – a lot of designers had color TV in mind and wanted to use color to its fullest potential.
I love the 60s so much, because a lot of fashions from following decades frequently reference and borrow from 60s aesthetics. A great example of this is two of my favorite bands, Deee-Lite and the B52s. The 60s was a period of time where people were pushing so many boundaries and norms, and a lot of amazing fashions were inspired from that period.
Oddballl Vintage is a business that has so much character and charm. It really is a brand that inspires other to express themselves through fashion and to create art. I urge you all to support Oddballl and show them some love!
To learn more about Oddballl Vintage check out their:
Depop: https://www.depop.com/oddballlvintage/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oddballlvintage/
Website: https://www.oddballlvintage.com
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