The global fast fashion market topped $21 billion in 2021, and by the end of 2022, that number is expected to exceed $93 billion – which will not surprise you if you have teenage girls anywhere in your orbit.
The need to keep up with the latest fashion trends is fueling an 8% annual growth in fast fashion, a rate that is unprecedented and largely attributable to the growth of social media. But some entrepreneurs are bucking the mainstream with fashionable trends of their own: vintage clothing and sustainable jewelry.
Josh Holder is the owner of Time Warp Boutique, a vintage clothing store in Mid City that carries original men’s and women’s clothing and accessories dating from the 1920s to the early 2000s.
Josh opened the store in 2001, back before vintage got to be a thing. In the years since, he has grown the store to be one of the largest vintage clothing stores in the south, with a selection of merchandise that also includes hand crafted upcycled vintage garments, accessories, gifts and jewelry by local artists.
Josh didn’t grow up wanting to own a vintage clothing store. Instead, he became enamored of the concept when he went into a vintage clothing store in the 1990s and got hooked. Originally, Josh majored in history at LSU which is more-or-less fitting: today, he considers himself something of a fashion archeologist.
Molly Taylor Hatcher is a Louisiana artist and owner of Beneath the Bark Jewelry, which makes jewelry from locally sourced reclaimed and salvaged wood.
Molly founded Beneath The Bark Jewelry in 2014, after trying to come up with Christmas gift ideas for her family and friends. In the years since, the company has grown into a fulltime business and brand that has earned Molly national recognition.
In 2019, before the whole world shut down for 2 years, Beneath The Bark was invited to show its jewelry collection at New York Fashion Week, where it earned press coverage in Vanity Fair, Vogue, and The Cut.
Molly designs all of the jewelry sold at Beneath the Bark. All the wood she uses is recycled from woodworker scraps. And designing and making reclaimed jewelry is not Molly’s only artistic talent. She’s also a respected singer/songwriter. Check out this video or visit Molly’s Facebook Page and explore the music she makes with her husband, Denton Hatcher.
Out to Lunch is recorded live over lunch at Mansurs on the Boulevard. Photos by Erik Otts. And you can check out more lunchtime conversation about Baton Rouge recycled records and clothes.