THE fashion industry is one of the major polluting industries in the world.
According to an article by Vision Ireland, purchasing and wearing vintage or recycling clothing can help reduce the 14.3 million textile waste that is produced per year, thus buying and selling old items is not merely for aesthetic purposes.
There’s no denying the excitement of discovering a rare find for those who embrace thrift shopping as a hobby. Realizing that “cheap,” “quality,” and “secondhand” can all be used together — that is, if you know where to shop.
Birth of Florice
Kimberly Roxas, a 27-year-old medical technologist and owner of Shop Florice, started her online business way back in April of 2018.
Florice is a passion project turned into a venue to celebrate the love of sustainable fashion.
She started her shop shortly after graduating college, while job hunting for her bachelor’s degree. Being a healthcare worker in the Philippines is very difficult and salary-wise, they’re not compensated well.
This is why she gravitated into selling online and that’s when Shop Florice was born — the rest is history.
Saying No to Fast Fashion
Gen Z’s are actively working to lessen their influence on the environment by dressing sustainably. They are lessening the need for new clothing and preventing used clothing from ending up in landfills by shopping secondhand.
Fashion has always been an outlet for Kimberly to express herself. She had been exposed to ‘ukay-ukay’ even when she was a child.
When she was in college, she decided to shop in ukay-ukay rather than from fast fashion brands because of her limited allowance — there she loves the thrill of finding amazing pieces.
When asked about her definition of “thrifting”, she described it as “literally digging into a pile of clothes in an Ukay.”
Thrift stores provide a range of styles that let Gen Zers experiment and add retro trends to their wardrobe, from ’90s grunge to ’70s bohemian. This gives them access to a more simple past, away from the complications of contemporary life and the political and economic turmoil that define their generation.
There’s no specific person Kimberly looks up to in terms of style. However, she gets inspired by old films and nostalgic places.
Kate Moss, the British supermodel, inspired her overall style with “a twist of fun and youthful”, she describes. Shop Florice is a vintage store that sells pieces that are mostly reminiscent of the 90s fashion.
Animal prints have an amazing quality of being constantly reinvented, leading to a new trend every season. And this gained Kimberly’s attention, expressing her love for its chic and sexy style.
“What I love about fashion is that it’s circular. What was once trendy before can be trendy again now or in the future.” she added.
Blessing in disguise
An online seller’s job will never be easy — they also face struggles on a daily basis. Online selling is not really a consistent job and it’s very time consuming.
“Yes, you have your time on your hands, but sometimes I always find myself being always busy.” she said and while being grateful for her brand.
Kimberly is a definition of a strong independent woman, doing all the work by herself for her online shop. And whenever they have pop-ups, she has a team who helps her.
She has always been an advocate of sustainability and having to sell thrifted items online — hoping to fill the gap between love for clothes and sustainability.
