Thrilling Curates A Black-Owned Vintage Collection For Black History Month

February is finally here and in light of Black History Month, you might want to rethink where you get your next vintage finds going forward.

On Tuesday, Feb. 1, Thrilling, a Black and Asian-owned online marketplace, launched its curated line of Black-owned vintage pieces, following its recent collaboration with award-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter. The carefully hand-picked selection spotlights Black-owned businesses and boutiques from all over the United States, with an array of one-of-a-kind apparel and accessories.

In the latest launch, you can expect to find hundreds of eclectic pieces ranging from patterned blouses to ruffled dresses, as well as nostalgic silhouettes, including ‘90s designer goods and much more. With vintage fashion trend predictions for 2022 ranging from abstract prints to new Americana, you’ll have an endless supply to shop for all of your thrifting needs.

Through this collection, Thrilling’s CEO and co-founder Shilla Kim-Parker is rewriting the thrifting and secondhand shopping narrative by uplifting marginalized voices and Black-owned businesses in the process. Since its inception in 2018, the vintage label has offered coveted inventory from both physical vintage storefronts and the online realm. Though Kim-Parker has loved scoring new secondhand finds over the years, she noticed the huge disparity when it comes to BIPOC-owned shops, especially with the rise of the resale economy.

In a recent article by The New York Times, “only 4% of Black businesses survive the start-up stage according to a report by McKinsey, with many Black-owned shops have been overlooked for decades, historically dealing with the lack of access to capital along with racism and discrimination.” Fashion is undoubtedly a powerful means of expression in Black communities, and concepts like “upcycling” and “reworking” have always been a part of Black households for generations.

“They’ve been completely left out of the conversation,” Kim-Parker told NYLON in an interview back in 2020 about helping brick-and-mortar vintage stores expand into e-commerce. “They have billions of items of incredible vintage that’s just lying in digital darkness. So we help them go online.” Now, Thrilling hosts more than 600 stores and 1,000 boutiques, with more than 95 percent of its shops and sellers being owned by women and BIPOC — and they’re not stopping there.

With prices starting as low as $10, you can now shop Thrilling’s Black Vintage Collection on Shopthrilling.com.