Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tara Martinak. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Tara , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

My Grandmother was a seamstress and she used to watch me and my brothers after school. She taught me to sew when I was young, and I received a hand me down sewing machine in the 4th grade and have been sewing (on that same machine) ever since. I’m not sure I would have done anything to speed the process. I feel that as I learned more about fashion and design the more I loved it, and my skills evolved along with that. From making clothes for my dolls as a kid to taking my first real sewing class at Moore my sophomore year of high school and learning how to really pattern something. I think patients is essential in sewing as well as owning a business. As for obstacles finding a college program that would enhance my sewing skills as well as give me a quality education and teach me about the history of fashion and how it plays a role in people’s lives was very important to me. I ended up at the university of Delaware and it was a great experience. after college it was hard to find a job in which I would actually be hands on and creating things, as well as struggling with my newfound knowledge of how harmful the industry I had spent most of my life trying to enter was on the environment. I worked for a few years doing trend forecasting and custom sewing work on the side. When Covid hit I lost my job which was very hard, but I decided to try my own thing and opened the store in May of 2021! Now I sew and create new things just about every day.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I Opened ReUp with the mission to help make sustainable clothing more accessible and interesting. We take second hand and discarded items and remake them into one of a kind on trend pieces. I personally thrift and find all of the pieces we use in the store and break down and remake them all by hand right in the storefront. I started a sustainable Store Because fast fashion is one of the top 3 most harmful industries in the world for the environment. Also approximately 11 million tons of textile waste is created in the US each year, I aim to stop some of that waste by using already made items and repurposing them. I feel like the shift for people to buy second hand is on the rise but not everything will fit right or be fully in style, so I like to say I’m the middleman that makes those thrift pieces into what you really want them to be. The store has been open for almost 3 years now and it’s so rewarding to see it grow and have people either come in because it sustainable or now I have people come in because they saw someone wearing one of my pieces and they thought it was cool so they came to check out the store and get the added bonus that they are buying sustainable and unique pieces from a small business. I would love all of my customers as well as potential new customers to know that small businesses can’t survive without them and I’m so grateful to have created the community we have so far and am so excited to see it grow even more.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I think the best way to support artists and small businesses is to of course shop with them over big stores if you can! but if you can’t make sure to follow them and interact with their media as well as share with friends and family. Social media is such a tool these days and a lot of creatives and business owners put a lot of time and effort into cultivating a following to help grow their business just for something they spent a long time on not to get the engagement it should. Also if you are in a small store in person ask questions engage with the person working. more than likely they are the owner or help in some form with what is in the store and for sale and want to tell you about it and what makes it different.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding part of my business is doing what I love every day. Owning your own business as your full-time job is amazing but it is also insanely hard and can be mentally and physically demanding. You’re the only one responsible for your successes and failures which is why when people ask me I say business ownership is not for everyone. But that being said for me the most rewarding part has been seeing people truly appreciate the things I make and standing with the mission of being more sustainable in everyday life. Also, people coming back and continuing to shop with me or people who have seen my work at craft fairs or markets and them actually coming to the store to shop and see the space is the best feeling ever. Another aspect that is special to me specifically is my store is in the town I grew up in, where I learned to sew and grew up and passed by my future store 1,000s of times not knowing it would one day be mine. In all honesty I didn’t think I would end up staying here as an adult but to become a part of the business community that is growing here and meeting so many other business owners and creatives and supporting each other has been absolutely amazing.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.reupfashion.com
• Instagram: @reup_fashion
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/ReUpFashionBrand
• Linkedin: ReUp Fashion

Image Credits
Tara Martinak, Mary Shiffer