Save the world and look good doing it: Michelle Nguyen on sustainable fashion.

[podcast_team]

Michelle Nguyen of Emmi’s Closet on eBay is an entrepreneur and fashion designer with a knack for repurposing secondhand textiles into one-of-a-kind pieces. Join us this week to hear about how she got her start, ways to reduce waste in fashion and beyond, and her plans for starting her sustainable clothing brand. Episode Links:

Michelle’s eBay Store: Emmi’s Closet
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Georgea: Every seller has a story. I'm Georgea Mpampanis and welcome to our newest episode of the eBay Seller Spotlight podcast, where each month we spotlight sellers with the story to share with us our guest. This episode is an entrepreneur, fashion designer, and a champion for sustainable living. She is the founder and CEO of Emmy's Closet Inc. And contemporary, secondhand and regenerative fashion commerce company based in Dallas, Texas. Welcome, Michelle Nguyen.

Michelle: Hi. Thank you.

Georgea: Thank you for being here with us. Tell us about your business. What do you sell?

Michelle: I sell mainly women secondhand clothing online. I have my own website, but I also sell mainly through eBay. I started it back in March of 2020 because of the pandemic, I was working on launching my own sustainable fashion brand. But because the pandemic happened, a lot of the manufacturing sites were closing down and, so because of that, I randomly saw an article in a Teen Vogue magazine or something like that, and it was places that you can sell your clothes online. And so I just took that as like a little nugget, you know? So I went home and got my sister on board with me and we posted our first item that week and that was back in 2020. And I've been doing it ever since and I love it.

Georgea: And the rest is history. And here you are today.

Michelle: Yes.

Georgea: Tell me a little bit more about your own brand, the fashion brand that you were gonna build on your own, when that gets started, what did that look like?

Michelle: Yeah, so I was actually working in higher education and I left in 2019 with like nothing lined up. You know what, I just wanna be on my own. I don't really see the education thing long term. And I've always really wanted to have my own fashion line, be creative, use that part of my brain that I don't really get to use. And so I left and I was like, okay, well I've always wanted to do fashion. I was already doing that on my own as a hobby. And so well, why don't I just try it now? You know, there's really nothing holding me back. I really had no real responsibility other than myself. And so that was the time to do it if I was ever gonna do it. I started with sustainability in mind because I was already kind of on that, on a personal, like shopping, like level being sustainable.I pulled that into my business and it was really hard. I spent that first year, spent a lot of money trying to launch it and things like that. And then Covid hit. I was like, Hmm, I don't think I can do this. You know, like the longevity of this. That kind of took a back burner. And then I started reselling and I started seeing income through the reselling. And so that really helped. But I always have that in the back of my mind. Do I still wanna launch my fashion brand? I make things like pieces at a time. Now I really wanna get back into it, really launch, completely launch it. And I wanted to do that next year instead of just making one or two pieces at a time, which is what I'm doing. But I use secondhand textile and secondhand clothing rather than buying brand new textile or manufacturing new textile just because there's just so much out there that's not being used and they're wonderful quality items. So I look at them and I see all the things that I can make from it and that really excites me. And so I really wanna get back and do it more often. But the reselling does take up most of my time.

Georgea: Who and what inspires your designs?

Michelle: I'm really drawn to prints and florals and things like that. I'm really drawn to them just like on an aesthetic level. I like looking at them. I think they're really pretty. Initially I thought that was my aesthetic, but then whenever I dress and I put on clothes, I realized that I'm a lot more of like a clean line kind of person and it just looks better on my body shape. And so I've actually been told by somebody else who was interviewing me for Project Runway, I had an interview with them and he said, yeah, that was really cool. Too bad it didn't pan out because of the pandemic. They didn't go on with production that year, but he said that my items look like that they could kind of represent Carolina Herrera. And that kind of stuck with me and because I really like her aesthetic too, that and New Mule, they're both kind of very tailored clothing but also very feminine and I really like that. Yeah, just from seeing the fabric that I find at the thrift store, I can look at it and be like, okay, well I can make this out of it based on like the print and then also the fabrication if it's like a solid flowy piece or like a more structured type fabric. And then that gives me a lot of ideas to work with.

Georgea: Oh my. It's so exciting. I need to see these pieces live one day. So I did just creep your social and you were away on vacation and have a glowing tan. Did you get any inspiration while you were there?

Michelle: Oh God. I love nature. So anytime I'm in nature, I'm inspired by it. When I was in art education classes or just any art classes, I'm always drawn to like trees and leaves and even like facial portraits. I used to make a lot of portraits in my artwork just because for me that's like a natural kind of thing. But yeah, just being there really opened me up and the beach, I haven't gone to the beach in years, so that was a real treat. I’m always constantly inspired by nature and architecture too. The lines and the straight, the cleanness and then the curves and things like that. I was in architecture for like a year.

Georgea: What haven't you done?

Michelle: I know. Anything that's creative or artsy, I'm really drawn to it.

Georgea: Okay. Well I really hope you put your store on Time Away while you're on vacation

Michelle: I did, I did.

Georgea: Good. Utilized it. That's awesome. Okay, so let's talk about sustainability. So what does it mean to you and why?

Michelle: When I first learned about sustainability, I was probably like 30 or so, and I saw a documentary titled The True Cost. And before that I never thought once or even anything about sustainability. I just thought, oh, I buy clothes, I wear it and then I donate it. Great. You know, or I pass it down to whoever can fit it. I used to pass my clothes around to my friends, whoever can fit it. And I was like, it's just clothes. I never thought anything about it. But then when I saw that documentary, my eyes were like, oh my gosh. And I know I'm a big contributor of fashion waste because I'm a big shopaholic and I also buy fabric all the time to paint my own clothes 'cause I've been sewing since I was little. And that just made me feel like a, a horrible consumer. Ever since then, I have always tried to find ways to be better at it. So I don't shop fast fashion brands. I used to thrift, but it was mainly for the cost benefit and not necessarily for the sustainability side of it. But after I learned about fast fashion and the waste, I started shopping at thrift store for that reason. And then also since starting my business and selling secondhand clothing, I've picked up sustainable habits outside of fashion which I didn't use to do before. Now I think twice when I go out and get to go boxes or shopping bags. Like I don't use shopping. I use my own re reusable shopping bags. Before, I used to take the shopping bags, extra shopping bags home with me because I need it for other things. But now I don't use it at all. Whenever we go out to restaurants, I don't use straws and I try to encourage my friends, you don't need a straw, just drink it from the glass.

Georgea: Well, unless It's paper, right?

Michelle: Yeah. There are a lot of sustainable options. Like actually when I was down in Mexico, 'cause we were in Tulum, all of them either no straws at all or they use the biodegradable straws or paper straws. Not a single regular plastic straws, which I know a lot of other countries are much better about it than the US sadly. Yeah.

Georgea: And Canada too.

Michelle: Yeah.

Georgea: Sustainability is obviously very important to you. And we know this through your business, but what other sustainability efforts have you taken or a part of?

Michelle: I also, at home, a big thing for me, I used to buy things just to buy things like decorations or to make the house pretty, I'm closer. I'm not a true minimalist, but I'm definitely more so of a minimalist. I don't use the paper towels, the napkins, I have cloth towels. And that makes a big difference because before I didn't realize how much paper napkins I was using, like every little thing, every little thing. But now that I don't have it, I don't use it. And then I was watching another documentary on plastic use, not necessarily about fashion, but just in general plastic use. And she taught us how to do like a plastic audit kind of look to see how often you use plastic products. You know, like when you buy fruits and it comes in a package container, then you put it in your recycling. How many of those do you actually use in a week? Before I watched that, like I had a lot and I was living with a room mate at the time and we both had a lot of plastic. Plastic container, plastic wrappers, anything that had packaging. It was mainly plastic. And then after I saw that I was like, hmm, I mean is, is there any other way like to do that? So I'm also causing it about when I buy a product, like how it's packaged too. I'm slowly kind of moving away from like the plastic containers. I haven't done it completely because it's hard, you know, it is expensive to shop sustainably, but it's something that I'm incorporating into my life like long-term. And so that's something that will happen more like gradually the more ways I find to be sustainable, the more I will incorporate it into my personal life.

Michelle: We do have a lot of resellers on our platform, but what is like some advice you'd give to them who's looking to make a bigger difference aside from just, you know, reselling used or secondhand clothing?

Georgea: For me, since learning about fast fashion and just sustainability in general, that has really made a big impact in my life. So I think the biggest thing that people should do is just to like educate yourself and like when you see those kind of things online, on social media or articles, actually take the time to read it and understand it. Because I think a lot of times people see it and then it, it doesn't interest them, it doesn't click with them, they don't think it relates to them, they don't think like they're one or two items or whatever makes a big impact. But that's really how I learn and how I find ways to improve from mainly through social media and like documentaries. I seek out documentaries to better educate myself and I started that for my business, but that really led into the rest of my life and how I kind of live my life and things that I buy and like just being more prepared for those kind of things. I'm not really sure how to say it, but I know like I tell people what I learn but some it doesn't really affect them, you know, like it's not their thing, it's my thing. But just being open like this, it's a big impact. Just knowing and learning and being open to it. Other than that, like if that's not like an issue for you, it doesn't matter what people tell you or what you do, it's not gonna really change how, how you do things or how you live your life. But if you educate yourself more, maybe that will start impacting you. When you start to realize even like the one or two items or whatever, that's just gonna multiply. So if you can cut back on even just a little bit, it will make a big difference.

Georgea: I love that. Michelle, thank you so much for doing your part in saving the World. Thank you. So great. Where can listeners find you in your store online?

Michelle: So my business name is Emmy's Closet. The website is Emmy's closet.net and then I'm on social media. I'm Emmy'sCloset_. And then on eBay, Emmy's- Closet. I wish I was more consistent, but that was the best I could do.

Georgea: So go shop her store for sustainable fashion and hopefully more of your own fashion will make its way up there soon.

Michelle: Yeah, that's my next thing that I'm working on, so I can't wait to share more of that.

Georgea: Well, thank you so much for joining us today. It was so lovely seeing you.

Michelle: Thank you. Good to see you guys too.

Georgea: Michelle Nguyen sells on eBay under the store name Emmy's Closet Inc. Shop her store for secondhand clothing and handmade designs. We hope you'll join us on our next episode. We will shine the spotlight on another seller with an amazing story to share. I'm your host, Georgea Mpampanis. Jim Griffith is our Editor-in-Chief. The eBay Seller Spotlight Podcast is produced by Libsyn and podCast411.