What she thought would be a dream job as a visual merchandiser at Free People led Sarah Little on a soul-searching journey that resulted in her founding The ReLove Market, a Calgary-based monthly vintage and consignment clothing show.

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“If you were to ask anyone who knows me, Free People is the brand that represents me the most,” Sarah remembers. “I did that job for eight months and it absolutely destroyed me when I saw what happens to fast fashion. These were perfectly fine fabrics and they were throwing them away. I became not comfortable with the industry I was involved in.”

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The ReLove Market celebrated its one-year anniversary just as the world shut down in March 2020, but, with the approval of Alberta Health Services, Sarah was able to keep her events running throughout much of the pandemic.

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Now, she’s recently moved to B.C. with the goal of expanding ReLove into Victoria. Vendor Grace Quinn of All Things GQ will continue to run the Calgary markets on Sarah’s behalf.

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Sarah says she’s excited to grow the brand and continue spreading the message of sustainability. On ReLove’s Instagram page, she regularly shares resources about the value of shopping vintage, the sustainability of secondhand and the facts of fast fashion.

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“I definitely went through the majority of my life being a fast-fashion fiend like most of us are, but I've always gone to secondhand and vintage to find those really unique pieces,” she says. “I'm a very big ‘why’ person, so it's important for me to help educate people on the why behind sustainable fashion and cyclical fashion.”

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Here, Sarah chats to The Vintage Seeker about the cross-generational appeal of The ReLove Market and her goals for her company.

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How did you get started with ReLove?

Sarah Little: Around when I was working at Free People, I had a conversation with a girlfriend about how I had a closet full of clothes that I was trying to “Marie Kondo,” and she had mentioned that her boyfriend, who was the director of a community centre, was looking to throw a one-off market. I come from a huge event background, so I ended up messaging him.

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With COVID, I was able to pivot. I had known that it was something I'd always wanted to turn into a full-time job. I had so many ideas and plans for the message behind ReLove — it really became about sustainability and the cyclical aspect of secondhand.

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I took the market on to grow it, rebrand it and find its footing in the world of sustainability. I spent time figuring out how we could be part of the change when it comes to educating people on the joys of secondhand fashion — and how it benefits the economy, the environment and humanity.

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At the beginning, the markets were mostly consignment. When did vintage sellers join in?

SL: When I started, I wanted to be able to open it up to people who didn't necessarily have the means to sell. I wasn't looking to include any established brick-and-mortars. I did a lot of cold DM-ing on Instagram. I literally scoured the Internet looking for people that were reselling. And that's sort of how we built this community.

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Now, I find so much value in bringing on people who are established, because it brings more attention. Whoever is interested, we keep it fair and make sure that everyone has an equal opportunity to join. Everybody has their value, everybody has something different.

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Educating consumers is a big aspect of ReLove and your business model. How are you doing that?

SL: We are reframing the narrative around what secondhand and vintage are. It's sort of that motto that one person's trash is another person's treasure — I want to work along that but remove the “trash” aspect of it.

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Just because it's been pre-loved doesn't mean it's any less amazing. I've had pieces where it's my first time with it and I feel like I'm as excited as if I had bought it at a department store.

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Secondhand is still just as good as new, if not better. These clothes have survived, they are meant to be worn, and they're still in great shape.

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My vendors are so amazing at taking a lot of pride in their inventory, the way that they clean the pieces, mend them, rework them to offer them to the community. We're definitely offering beautiful pieces that are well taken care of.

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You’ve come up with “the ReLove Generation” as a movement. What does that phrase mean to you?

SL: It’s about being the generation that no longer looks at secondhand clothing the way that we used to. We're the people who are about re-loving. I see so many different generations come through our markets, like a family with a grandma, mom and daughter. That's three generations all shopping the market. That is exactly the point. This is for everyone.

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And if everyone does that small part, whether it's just recycling your clothes. or only shopping secondhand, or trying to shop secondhand more often than not, then that's doing so much good. Every small step counts.

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The markets have evolved since you started in 2019. What can people expect now?

SL: Now that restrictions are dropping, we're working with anywhere between 20 and 25 vendors. I'm happy to keep opening that up. When we started at the Village at Brentwood, we had 40 vendors, and then the feedback we got was that 40 can be very overwhelming. It’s a lot to look at.

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We’re continuously trying to keep the variety when you come to the market. We want to make sure there's stuff for women, men, kids, plus size. I've had a woman who was specifically for adventure outdoor gear. It is really something for everyone. I work really hard at trying to make that happen.

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We've been bringing on DJs to help set the vibe. Down the road, when things feel more comfortable coming out of all of this craziness, I want to really amp up the music side of it and add food and beverage so it's not just a shopping event, it's a shopping experience.

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What do you want people to know about Calgary’s market for secondhand shopping?

SL: Nowhere else that I've seen is as big on secondhand as Calgary is. We’ve got over 50 brick-and-mortars within the city limits, and a big chunk of those are downtown, so you can literally walk to probably 20 or 30 within a day. It’s so important for people to know how many options are out there.

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I created a consignment map for Calgary a couple years ago and I'm in the process of working with a local artist to revamp it, because from what I originally did to what there is now, it's grown so massively.

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Know what's available — so instead of running to the mall knowing where you need to run to grab something, run to the secondhand store.

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What are your goals for the company over the next year?

SL: I will be getting Victoria up and running. I'm hoping to have my first market out here by the end of the year. And then we can start looking at bringing on a bigger team.

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My main focus is to keep the markets going in the current world situation. As much as I want to plan for all of these big ideas that I have, I'm trying to be as realistic as possible and just do one thing at a time.

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We've just brought on tote bags for shoppers, because we find so many come without bags, so we thought that was a huge offer for the community. With the maps, I want to be able to provide more support for businesses while supporting the community and educating them on where to shop.

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We’ve also been working on potentially bringing on more of the re-loved house goods, because that seems to be huge right now. At the end of the day, anything secondhand is all feeding the same purpose.

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What do you want people to know about selling and shopping with ReLove?

SL: ReLove is a market for the people, by the people. I am nothing without my vendors, so it's very important for me to keep them happy, to support their businesses and to help them grow as well. We also offer a lot of services in terms of helping sellers with their brands or optimizing their online presence.

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Keep your eyes on our pages because there are always market announcements. Our highlights showcase past markets in case you missed out and are curious what it’s all about. I encourage everyone to come out and experience it for yourself, whether you're shopping or you want to be a vendor.

Anybody who's a new-time vendor, we have such a supportive community to help you through your first market. So, as intimidating as it can be, I encourage everyone to take that leap. It’s so worth it and you'll kick yourself if you don't.

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Sarah Little, Founder, The ReLove Market

@therelovemarket

relovegeneration.com

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‍This interview has been edited for length.

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To read about Sarah Little’s tips for vintage sellers and shoppers, click here!

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