After collectively being asked about their unique sense of style and ability to piece together vintage looks, Jordan Smith Jr., Jaylon Young and Javion Smith combined their talents to create Garb·age. A unique play on the phonetic sound of the word garbage, “garb” defined as ‘clothing or dress, especially of a distinctive or special kind,’and“age” emphasizing the blend of clothing from various decades that are trendy, fashionable and not found at your local mall.
Seizing the opportunity, the three began their business venture by selling items for a college throwback party, Juke Joint, when noticing people struggled to gather ’80s and ’90s themed outfits at the local thrift shops. Smith, Young and Smith recognized that a lot of their wardrobe consisted of vintage clothing and tapped into an unfulfilled market.
“Noticing we were making a steady profit and it was consistent, we realized that this is something we like doing,” Jaylon said. “We like buying clothes and selling them.”
The group would like to enhance a diverse fashion culture on Florida A&M University’s campus. Feeling as though fashion culture is tailored to fashion organizations, they would like to increase fashion sense and style to all individuals on campus. “There is a whole other world of fashion that we would like to shine light on, bridging the gap between different avenues into the fashion world,” Jordan said.
Emerging thrift culture in Tallahassee, especially at FAMU, is only their initial starting point. They hope to branch out on a global scale as they are currently creating their website and brainstorming unique ways to engage communities under current circumstances with social distancing. Clothing items are typically sold at pop-up shops hosted by the three, that have transitioned to being held outdoors to practice ongoing safety measures.
Each individual has an appointed role in the business ensuring that the brand and pop up shop run smoothly. Planning their pop-up shop takes all hands on deck as they have developed their own distinctive talent that combines to create a working system.
“Being over advertising, I formulate the brand and market the clothing,” Javion said. “I work to increase engagement and interaction.”
From gathering items, tracking inventory, setting up shop, pricing, marketing and overall brand development, the three manage to operate the business while tackling rigorous coursework. Javion is an economic major and music artist, Jordan is an economics major as well, and Jaylon is a supply chain major, minoring in business. It seems to make the best use of their time. The three share that balance is key in being a full-time student while operating a business. They feel that their business helps them to utilize the skills they are taught in class thus increasing their will to understand and retain information as it will help in their business venture.
Remain on the lookout for upcoming events hosted by Garb·age as you can stay up to date by following their Instagram page and turning on their post notifications. The vintage thrifted fad has yet to be a thing of the past, as these three can attest.