In a world of trends and fast fashion have you ever wondered what happens to any unsold clothing or accessories? Are they thrown away and end up in a landfill? Some of it does. Does anyone keep them in a warehouse somewhere? Yeah, some people do that too.

In the past four years I have been extremely aware of my purchasing power. What my purchases mean. And with that in mind, as a small business owner in Brooklyn, NY, I knew that I wanted to turn someone's trash into jewelry. That's what Worm Studio is about. Wonderful humans donate objects or even old jewelry parts and I play with them in the studio and turn them into new wearable pieces.

I also aim to curate colorful quirky objects into a cute online (and sometimes IRL) shopping experience. This has all been done with the aim to support other small business owners with the same values as Worm. Shopping small, slowly made, responsible business practices, and with goals to make the retail world less wasteful. This would never be a space to point fingers but a space filled with constructive conversations on how to do better.

It is important for me to curate while being mindful. As the spring and summer seasons are quickly approaching it was a match made in heaven when I stumbled upon Brillies Sunglasses. Their whole mission is to curate deadstock vintage sunnies. 

Here's Brillie's clear and concise breakdown on what deadstock means:

"Deadstock is quite literally dead STOCK. It happens when a store's inventory doesn’t turn over; AKA doesn’t sell. When a business doesn't use inventory management software, deadstock can sit in a warehouse until it's eventually completely forgotten. If enough time has passed, this old, forgotten stock becomes vintage. In fashion, something is vintage once it turns 20 years old. 

Deadstock vintage can come in many states of age. Deadstock usually retains its original tags and stickers - this is because it went untouched by the public. It was never sold, so it's in its original back-of-store condition. " 

So, yes, purchasing deadstock vintage is better for our environment. You are essentially taking that deadstock or new old stock and giving it a whole new life. This without pre-ordering not yet ready items or supporting fast fashion conglomerates. These are known for creating a lot of waste. We will be writing about this more in detail in the coming months.

Remember that your purchasing power is just that, powerful.