We were lucky to catch up with Gabriel Madrid Madrid recently and have shared our conversation below.
Gabriel Madrid, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
Going to a mall with your friends is an average high school experience. Shopping wasn’t really my thing, but I was always happy to go with my friends to a mall on the nicer side of town I don’t usually venture to. I had just started high school; no style, no real sense of direction other than my mom wanting me to be an engineer. I wore whatever was socially passing as a freshman that wasn’t really fresh.
That was until I walked into Barney’s New York. Barney’s New York carried the most expensive clothing I had ever seen and I was enamored at this hidden world of style that I had never seen before. I immediately left the store having deemed myself too un-fresh for the $1,000 puffer jacket I’d accidentally examined upon entry, and left the store to study the brands sold at Barney’s on my high school architecture class’ computer.
This store casted an unbreakable spell on me. I was seeing these brands, each carrying its own distinct feature to represent the house its name holds, I was seeing this new form of self expression that was completely oblivious to me and unlike anything I had even seen before. I studied the website and all the exclusive and illusive brands; all from my class computer. The irony wasn’t clear at the time, because I still did not know I even wanted to own a store, but I knew my style had to change.
I had gone through a complete wardrobe restart and only kept anything that vaguely resembled something expensive being sold on Barneys.com. I was transformed and returned to Barney’s to examine the clothing anew, so you can imagine my self esteem when an employee had complimented my Vans acid wash Sk8 highs.
Barney’s closed the following year and I once again has to satisfy my craving for unique clothing, and that’s when I discovered thrift stores. But being a sophomore in high school meant minimal exploration when it came to the world of thrift stores. It was in fact my mom, taking me to stores on the other side of town where I could put my knowledge to the test and find these mythical garments being underpriced simply because no one had really heard of them at the time.
Flash forward to now and I’m still learning more each day, but I’m sick of the corporatization of the industry. I’m upset over platforms misusing their power and influence just to make a buck over people that can’t think for themselves. Now fashion is all about self expression and nowadays people would agree that it’s ascended beyond brands, but now all it takes is for someone to promote a certain style and people will emulate it despite it not relating to their life at all. That’s how “fast fashion” companies make their money, and that’s how the current fashion industry makes theirs. Brands used to have their sense of individuality with someone at the helm who had something to say through their garments. I hate seeing people become suckers to greedy companies. So what can I do? I want people to experience what I experienced when first saw how different style can be expressed. I want to blow people away with cool clothing they’ve never heard of and show style that could appeal to anyone looking for something new. But with how diverse the fashion industry is, why not use my knowledge to only sell clothing that has that unique history? Not pertain to selling one style, but all the styles I’d seen, style for people who can actually express themselves just by what they themselves find interesting. Style for the individual by having only that which is cool. Current, old, obscure, and luxury clothing. That’s why I started Thrifty Threads
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
My business relies on knowledge of each individual garment to determine if it’s newer or old, real or fake, cheap or expensive etc. all while falling under the C.O.O.L. anagram. Anyone looking to sell or buy cool clothing is the person for Thrifty Threads. I only want people to wear clothing that speaks for themselves. I don’t own the store with the intent that people will resell the clothing they buy, but that they’ll actually wear it.
What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?
There’s too many online selling platforms where most end up getting less than 60% for their sold listing. A fixed rate of 20% is all I charge for however each consigned item sells. A key milestone was having a getting a job at an antique store and renting a space there where I could sell my inventory. It’s the best I can get until a full blown storefront and I’m proud of what I have. Emulating the way certain designers and people in Japan talk about fashion is what I intend to bring here.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I’m not giving up until I have a store! One day I’ll be able to answer these questions as the entrepreneur CanvasRebel thinks I am. Until then those who know can see my determination and that I won’t stop until my goal of a store is complete.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @thrifty_threads_az
Image Credits
Nigo founder of A Bathing Ape for GQ sept 2007. Hiroshi Fujiwara for Cutie magazine June 1993