Kalei Davis is a regular customer at Project ReWear, a unique clothing boutique in Thousand Oaks.
This morning, she’s on a mission: Looking for shorts.
Project ReWear offers many temptations for clothes shoppers, with a mix of trendy and more traditional offerings for all ages, from kids to adults.
The store has a much loftier goal than just selling people clothes. It’s trying to find new homes for items that would otherwise end up in landfills.
"We're two moms who saw too much waste, and came up with one big idea, called Project ReWear," said Kimberly Lau. She and Linda Young are the co-founders.
"Our whole goal is to reduce textile waste," said Lau. "We have kids. When we started clearing out their closets and started seeing the amount of clothing that was barely worn, that had tags on them, we realized something must be done. Kids outgrow clothing, and they see everything on social media, and they want more and more. We realized something could be done about this."
They’re both moms with teenagers. They’d watch their kids buy something, and wear it a few times before moving on to the next trendy thing. The duo decided the old clothes should have better homes than a landfill.
"I have a 12-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy. Clothes are a big deal, especially for my girl," said Young. "I feel like every day she's changing the direction she wants to go in, what her style is, so I was buying a whole range of things she'd be into, and the next week she would be into something else, and want to switch it up,"
Young says she and Lau met while sharing their love of finding unique clothing and accessories at second-hand stores.
"Kim and I met in a thrift store," Young explained. "I'm president of a nonprofit thrift store, so I would see many things happening behind the scenes of thrift stores, and how much actually ended up in landfills, because sadly about 80% of items there. A lot of people don't know about the impacts on our planet."
The two started talking, leading to the Project ReWear idea. Young and Lau had the perfect resumes for a clothing boutique.
Lau had a business background, working in wealth management, while Young worked in the luxury fashion world in New York and London. Still, Lau said opening the Thousand Oaks Boulevard boutique in December was risky.
"It is scary every single day, but I think for both of us, we are willing to give up everything to follow our dream, and hopefully start a movement," said Lau.
Shopper Kalei Davis didn’t find the shorts she came in for, but did find a bargain in the form of a t-shirt for her teenage granddaughter. Clothing items are weighed at the register, giving customers an idea of how much they saved from going to a landfill.
Another shopper, Lettie Whitley, talked about the deal she found in the store. "I purchased a Patagonia sweater. It was more than $100 from Patagonia, and I got it for about $20. It looks brand new."
Everything looks brand new, but Lau said they find much of their stock at thrift stores and estate sales.
"We wanted to have something for everyone," said Lau. She said they conducted focus groups for teens and women to make sure the fashions they were gathering for the store were on track.
Some customers are donating clothes to the store, hoping they will find a new home instead of ending up in landfills. The idea is that everything is affordable, something especially important for parents with growing kids who also have ever-changing tastes.
Young points out a new addition to the store, a rack where people can swap clothes.
"We love the little (neighborhood) libraries, where you can leave a book, and take a book," said Young. "With this rack, we're doing the same thing, but it's with clothing. There's no money exchanged."
The partners are opening a second location, a warehouse space open to the public.
Lau said the project feels like a calling for the women.
"The whole thing is about making people feel like a part of what we hope will be a movement," said Lau. "We weigh every single purchase, so we can tally up and show in real-time how much they've potentially saved. Since December, we're almost at 2,200 pounds we've saved from the landfills."
