We were lucky to catch up with Leslie Cikra recently and have shared our conversation below.

Leslie, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Velvet Yucca was born out of my desire for more art and creative expression in my life. We were coming out of covid and I had found a renewed love for style and getting dressed to go out. I was bored shopping at malls and it didn’t ever really feel in alignment for me with how I wanted to live to help the earth in the small ways I can. I grew up going to auctions and flea markets with my family and started thrifting with friends more throughout college.

I have always been drawn to the few-of-a-kind nature of true vintage and love that I can put something unique on my body that helps me step into my power and feel like the woman I am. I started thrifting more to hunt out more unique pieces, and was finding so many amazing things in other sizes, that I couldn’t pass up. I felt this urge to get these amazing pieces into new homes and to share the power of dressing through my own personal style. That in combination with a few inspiring and hot desert trips created the perfect storm, and VYV came to life.

Leslie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Leslie and I am the owner of Velvet Yucca Vintage. Velvet Yucca was born coming out of Covid, from a rediscovered joy of styling and getting dressed to go out. I realized how empowered I felt, wearing colors that spoke to me and playing with bold pieces and maximalist style. Fashion became has become a huge form of creative expression and VYV has become an incredible platform to share that with the community.

Velvet Yucca Vintage is a collection of playful, bright, unique, disco and western influenced vintage clothing hand picked to inspire. I truly believe that what we put on our bodies is art and I love being able to pass along pieces that help the wearer step into their confident selves and feel like art. Clothing has the power to change our mood and ignite joy.

I am grateful for the how far Velvet Yucca has come in the past year. I never thought this little passion project would come as far as it has and taught me so much about the fashion industry and the earth. I am so grateful for the vintage community in Denver, and I thankful for how many pieces I have been able to find the perfect new home for and help keep in circulation. I am so excited to see what the future holds for VYV!

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I began selling clothing for Velvet Yucca purely online. There came a point when my inventory began to grow and I knew I had to pivot and find other outlets to sell. I started reaching out to vintage shops around town and doing some wholesaling to them. I am so thankful for this pivot, adding wholesaling into my biz model and making more in person connections with other vintage sellers around Denver.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

I utilize Poshmark, Etsy and Depop platforms to sell online. I have slowly built up my Poshmark up over the years and that helps me get a lot of foot traffic to my closet online. Etsy keywords and searches also drive a lot of traffic. Although fees are typically higher, I love how the platforms allow buyers to search for specific items. I find many people that come to my closet are looking for specific vintage brands and eras and that drives a lot of purchases. Etsy and Posh and Depop are such HUGE marketplaces, but they are a great place to go to find that perfect pink suede fringe jacket, or western pearl snap shirt because you can use keywords to search the whole marketplace. I plan to start selling through social media and Instagram stories this summer when I take Velvet Yucca on the road back east to Ohio and Michigan and then back out west to New Mexico, Arizona and Southern California coast, so keep an eye out for that :)

Contact Info:

• Website: Velvetyuccavintage.com
• Instagram: @velvetyuccavintage

Image Credits
Images all by me!