We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Buffy Stenger and her partner Meri Vallo . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Buffy below.

Alright, Buffy and Meri thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

At El Duende we thrive on the merge of old and new, repurposing and repairing and offering something for everyone. We offer slow fashion, made of natural materials for every shape and figure. We plant dye, we hand sew, we mend your favorite old Levi’s once they’ve torn in all the wrong places. We turn old embroidered napkins into your new favorite crop top or flowing dress. We believe in all things continual including fashion. We refuse to add waste to fast fashion filled landfills and we want to give life and second, or third chances to every garment. Upon entering our store you notice all the one of a kind, custom repurposed pieces and you see handknit wools, linen dresses and worn out old cowboy boots. We believe in showing slow current fashion brands, partnered with repurposed pieces and mended denim opens the clients eyes for new ways to incorporate old and new into your wardrobe and not limiting your imagination in the fashion department. We want you to have fun with fashion while minimizing your carbon footprint. It’s as easy as dropping off your favorite sweater from last season for a dye bath and picking her up as a fresh new marigold tone sweater for fall. Buffy and Meri both have creative backgrounds and a long history with vintage and retail which met in the desert and landed them to cultivate and create El Duende. A desert natural, continual, preloved and mended boutique.

Buffy and Meri , 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?

Meri, co founder of El Duende ended up in the desert looking for a fresh restart and was inspired by the high desert vastness, howling coyotes and dilapidated homestead cabins. She had just closed her New York brick and mortars and was open for whatever magic the desert had in store for her. Buffy, the second half of El Duende met Meri at a holiday event at the local library and knew instantly that they were going to make something amazing together. They both had decades of retail experience, and had success and business in the vintage world and were looking to shake up the modern fast fashion scene that so heavily saturated the fashion industry. Meri and Buffy are both makers and very visual oriented. They believe in all things organic, even the opening of El Duende. The retail space fell into their laps after a few pop ups around town and they launched at the opportunity to have a brick and mortar. The space is curated of old salvage doors hauled from Meri’s NY stores and branches Buffy and Meri gathered off their property and repurposed into clothing racks. It’s a perfect combination of their two personalities and the space truly reflects their mission of slowing down, and appreciating the imperfections in the natural and continual pieces that surround us. It’s as much an art installation as it is a retail store, it’s as much a community gathering place under the mesquite tree at El Duende as it is the wrap station. There’s a magical courtyard that led the name El Duende and houses a tortoise sanctuary. It’s truly a magical destination.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

At El Duende our best source of new clients have been our loyal, local clinetale. Joshua Tree is a diverse community and small town where word of mouth is your best advertisement. Providing our community with affordable, sustainable merchandise through every season and giving them a place to gather and reconnect has been our best gift.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

At El Duende we learned fast that the summer months weren’t going to be operable during the triple degree day heat. We had to pivot and try new ways of marketing and hours that would still accommodate our locals during the off tourist season. We started night hours and evening pot lucks to maintain the sense of community and togetherness that everyone started to know and love at El Duende.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @ElDuendeJT