Thrifting and fashion that benefits the environment have been given fresh life in Birmingham. The Clothing Library is a new online business that focuses on sustainable clothing. Founder and CEO, Milagros “Mila” de Souza, said this is something consumers in the community need to get back to.
“Sustainable fashion is interesting because it's just going back to our roots, she explained. “Doing things slower, more sustainable, considering people when you're making the items, making sure people are being paid well.”
De Souza started the online clothing rental subscription in 2022. The small business connects consumers with secondhand clothing. Many items in the virtual catalog are purchased from local vendors in Birmingham. De Souza says her vision is to make sustainable fashion more attainable.
“We need sustainable fashion that is reasonably priced. But also, you don't need a lot of time to find exactly what you're looking for,” she said. “And that was kind of the idea behind The Clothing Library: getting your local thrift store/consignment store delivered to your front door.”
Sustainable fashion refers to fabrics derived from eco-friendly resources. This could be sustainably-grown fiber crops or recycled materials. “There's cool things… like for example, dresses made out of pineapple cores, utilizing things that are considered waste but to make new things,” de Souza explained. But she said they are not always in an accessible price range for the average American.
“(Those) dresses, while they're cool and made out of pineapple cores, can be couple $100. And the average American can afford like a $600 emergency,” she said.
Purchasing vintage clothing, going to thrift shops, or renting clothes are all examples of sustainable fashion. De Souza says this is what The Clothing Library is all about.
“We have three different subscription levels: one item, three items, and five items. It's all on an added time. So, if you have the one item, for example, you can swap out that item as much as you want. But you can only have one clothing library item in your house at one particular time,” she explained. The rental options from The Clothing Library subscriptions start at $34.99.
De Souza has a history with sustainable fashion. She graduated from Duke University in 2021 with a specialized degree on the subject.
“Duke has this program where you get to create your own major. And so, that's when I created the major “intersectional sustainability in the fashion industrial complex,” which is super fancy way of saying I studied how sustainable fashion and how it affects society on a daily basis,” she said.
De Souza says shoppers who like to flip through clothing on hangers in a store can still buy sustainable fashions. She suggests going to consignment shops or thrift stores.
“When you're shopping secondhand, it is extremely cheap. And it's like $5. And normally, you would have paid a couple $100, maybe depending on the item because there are a lot of designer items secondhand as well,” de Souza said.
Vintage boutiques are also a good source to shop secondhand. De Souza says The Clothing Library partners with local resellers to source items. This includes Birmingham stores like Quake Plus-Size Resale. There’s also d’Trespa Consignment & Vintage Boutique. Owner LaRoyce Marsh says she’s in favor of de Souza’s vision.
“I’m very into sustainable fashion and recycling repurposing most of my decorations and around here are things that I’ve repurposed,” Marsh said.
Marsh says d’Trespa carries everything from Gap to Gucci. And even if the clothing items don’t make it on the rack—there’s still a place for it in the store.
“Something like a dress may come in, and it’s really not that good enough condition to sell, but I hang it on the wall,” Marsh explained. “So, you know, so I love the idea of repurposing things. And then I loved Mila’s excitement and passion and all for it.”
Marsh says the partnership with The Clothing Library and de Souza is still new, but she says she’s hopeful about the business agreement.
“That came about just in the last couple of months. Someone had told me about Mila and vice versa. She came in, and we hit it off and kind of were like the same,” said Marsh.
In addition to a wide range of brands, d’Trespa also has a similar range of men and women’s clothing. Mila de Souza at The Clothing Library says one of her goals is to degenderize clothing to be more inclusive.
“Clothes don't have gender. I mean, I wear men's and women's clothes,” de Souza said. “And I don't want people to feel like they can't wear something because it's men's, you know. So, that's something that we're really looking to do.
De Souza says the main demographic for The Clothing Library is made of the younger generations of women and non-binary people who might already enjoy thrifting. Non-binary people identify with either no or several genders.
“Our target demographic: women and non-binary. We're thinking millennials, because Gen Z is willing to go through a thrift store,” she explained. “The idea is, this is the thrift store delivered to your front door.”
Millennials and Gen Z are also the generations that are most likely to participate in microtrends. De Souza said partnering with local stores like d’Trespa and renting clothing secondhand can help cut down on this movement in fashion.
“Microtrends are going to be essentially, like styles or trends that are only around for a year or two,” de Souza explained. “And they're really popular for that time. And so, a lot of companies are going to make that style because it's really popular.”
Fashionistas point to the rise of the social media app TikTok for the growing popularity of the microtrends de Souza is talking about. The algorithm on the platform shows millions of people the same video of a certain clothing style. This gives more attention to trends presented through “get ready with me” or “haul” videos showing off different fashions. De Souza says some microtrends only stick around for a few months or even a few weeks.
“We live in a world where there's influencers wearing micro trends. And your favorite celebrities are wearing the micro trend. And so, now you want the micro trends as a consumer. And so, it is a mindset shift,” she said.
De Souza says this type of trend also feeds into what’s called “fast fashion.” This is a method focused on producing a lot of clothing quickly. The retailer Shein is one of the most well-known online stores specializing in mass producing trends. But the company has come under fire for poor working conditions—and for using cheap, synthetic fabrics. De Souza says buyers can still stay on trend without contributing to fast fashion.
“You can find those trends secondhand. You don't have to go to the Shein and find it firsthand. You can get it secondhand, and it'd be much better quality and last you much longer,” she said.
De Souza says once these fashion trends are over-- the clothes are discarded after only being worn a handful of times.
“A lot of it does end up in the landfill. A lot of it ends up in the trash,” she explained. Because people will just no longer want the item. It may have been a cheap material. It had a hole or been distressed. And so, they throw it away.”
The Clothing Library is currently all online. The founder says she’s toyed around with going from virtual to in-person.
“There's a huge benefit to be being able to feel the clothes, try them on. But then, if we're thinking about from an environmental standpoint, it's much better environmentally to just do it all completely online,” de Souza said.
But the CEO says if The Clothing Library transitions into a physical shop, it would have to be environmentally friendly and keep up with her core business model. But for now, everything will be online.
In the meantime, de Souza says now is the time for new clients to check out what the shop has to offer. “We're given two months for your way right now. So, if you sign up for our newsletter, you get to try it out for two months because we want to know what you think. So that's what we're offering to our new clients,” she said. Details can be found at The Clothing Library.
