By Shy’Ana Thomas
On Friday, Jan. 17, in Grand Rapids, World of Winter held a fashion show with a local, well-known thrift store Second Vibess, owned by Co-founders Kaitlynn Fitzpatrick and Camille Steverson. The show presented a combination of Second Vibess handmade pieces and vintage pieces. The fashion show was presented on the Gillett Bridge for everyone to watch. The following day, they sat down for an interview with The Collegiate at their store, which is located on Division Ave.
What was the thought process and inspiration behind the fashion show?
Fitzpatrick: All of our clothes that we create are a reflection of our personal style with an influence of streetwear and individuality. We have a huge emphasis on slow fashion. So just creating unique pieces that can be also practical and worn for a long time that make people feel good about themselves in the clothes that they’re wearing.
Steverson: Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. had reached out to us about doing a fashion show in collaboration with the artists who made the lit-up insulation in World of Winter. So it was probably about a month ago that they asked us if we wanted to do it and we thought it was gonna be a great unique opportunity.
What was the process for picking the models and making sure everything was planned?
Steverson: So we’ve done one previous fashion show so a lot of the models we did already previously know, but we did cast on our story, just looking for talent in the area. We went through quite a few to kind of like pick our favorites. And then in terms of constructing the outfits, that’s the combination of us sourcing the materials, whether it’s something vintage, like the fur coats, or it is like the denim material that we need to make the clothes. And then it was just a lot of hours of us making and styling and like planning and all the little details. And it being outside on the bridge made it also a little bit different and interesting logistically, because, obviously, it’s in the middle of winter, you know it’s on a bridge, windy.
Fitzpatrick: I loved how it turned out. But, yeah it did challenge us in a way that we didn’t experience at the last show. And the installation (Runway) also was supposed to be up at least a week before the show and then it was supposed to be done by Thursday, which was the day before the show. And then we came in on Friday and it still wasn’t done. So our models did not get to do a full rehearsal altogether under the actual installation. So, I was super proud of how good they did without being able to do that, we did practice at the structure but beforehand, before all the lights were up and everything, but we didn’t get to do it with the final audio or with everyone there. So, the only practice we had with everyone was in the hallway of MLive while we were getting ready. And everyone did so, so good with the choreography. That was impressive because the installation didn’t get done until about 6 p.m. which is crazy because it was an hour before the show, so that definitely added an unexpected element of stress to it because just, like getting ready and looking outside and seeing that it’s not done, and just crossing your fingers and hoping for the best. But, it all worked out and the artists that created the installation, worked really hard, like through the night to make sure it was done in time for us, and we’re super grateful for that.
So for the ending of the show was that improved?
Fitzpatrick: Yeah, everything in the show was completely rehearsed. We did have two rehearsals before the show day at just like the base structure, but not all models could attend each one. And then we did like a rehearsal with all the choreography inside, just with mock points for them to look at. But yeah everything that was in the show was choreographed by the scenes.
Will all the outfits worn during the show be sold in-store?
Steverson: All of the pieces were kind of a mix. We made quite a few pieces for the show in particular. They will go up for sale probably on our website in the next month and then some of the items were just… curated vintage pieces that we had either found or maybe we thought it would be a good fit that we already had in stock in the store. But everything was pretty much new. We haven’t put most of it out, so a lot of it was like we just constructed it and made it.
What’s some insight on you guys for people who haven’t heard of you guys before?
Steverson: So, Kate and I met in college and we were going for something completely different. But we started thrifting together and kind of just fell in love and bonded over it. And we decided to turn it into a side hustle on Instagram and it was originally Second Vibess, but we were just kind of selling cool things that we would find or if we were rotating our closets and things like that. And then we kind of proceeded to do pop-up markets. We were in our own events, and we kind of fell in love with it and we were like well…there’s something here, we could make a career job out of this. Then we really wanted to teach ourselves how to sew, so we were all self-taught on YouTube and things like that. And then, yeah, it kinda just morphed.
I feel like after we did so many pop-ups, we were engrained (in) a true follow. Not even like a following, but people who just loved our store and were really, truly supporting us. We were just like outgrowing…Doing it out of our house, too. And we kind of just naturally started looking for some spaces, found this space and it was an independent owner who kind of took a chance on us because we haven’t had a business before. And it just, yeah…it worked out, and I feel like we didn’t necessarily have this being the goal in mind, but I feel like as we expanded our brain, it just we realized it was more possible.
Fitzpatrick: Yeah.
What is it about having it in a place like this? Because Grand Rapids doesn’t really get a lot of things like this.
Steverson: There’s not a lot of things to do downtown…I mean now I feel like more vintage shops and things shopping is coming in but really truly when we got here there really wasn’t anything. So we wanted to be able to be a place for the community to come, obviously to find clothes but to hang out, have fun events and add uniqueness to Grand Rapids and have like a hub for artists and creatives.
Fitzpatrick: Yeah, because like you said, like when we opened there really wasn’t. I think there was us and OTONO (A second-hand vintage store) was on the street… There’s Vertigo (a record store) that’s been there forever and they’re great, but in terms of like fashion community, like there really wasn’t a lot and seeing it grow specifically on Division, it’s just so cool to have a relationship with all the business owners and be able to do things in the community to make it the vintage hub that it is.
What type of events do you guys hold at the store?
Steverson: So we’ve done a lot of workshops. We’ve done collage workshops and up-cycling workshops, sewing workshops. We also hold music events here. We’ve had people kind of preview their albums here and have a launch party.
Fitzpatrick: We had, I mean we’ve done some random things. We’ve done yoga days a couple (of) times and we’ve done wellness (events). We also do shop hops, which is when we’ll have an event and it’ll include all the businesses in the vintage and art scene on Division and there will be different things that each stop and give away things like that. We’re really trying to do more fashion shows. We’ve done two so far, (the) next one hopefully is coming soon.
Steverson: Probably end of summer.
Fitzpatrick: In general just anything art, fashion, creativity, wellness, all those things… We’re not strict on what events we can have here. We’re open to anything cool.
When it comes to art from people who are local, do they just bring the art to you guys or do they have to submit it somewhere?
Steverson: I mean, it depends. We’ve had artists reach out to us and want to put up a painting or something in the store. We’re totally down for that. We have other artists who vend in our shop as well and sell their personal creations. We still have some pieces up from ArtPrize. We’ve done that the past couple of years. Last year, we had like five or six artists in here. So I don’t know if there’s like a direct answer it kind of just depends. If you’re an artist and you want to connect, always feel free to reach out to us. And we’re open to a lot of opportunities.
What are some things you want people to know where they could reach you to find other events and things like that?
Fitzpatrick: Instagram is a great way to communicate with us. It’s me and Camille on the other end, so you can always DM us on there (@second_vibess). We post all our events online on social media. Facebook as well gets all of the announcements from our Instagram. Also, just like coming in-store, we’ll always have a flyer or whoever’s working and use that information on what’s going on. So I would say yeah, Instagram and Facebook would be the best place social media wise. We do have a TikTok and stuff, but for important announcements, Instagram is probably your best spot.
Steverson: We also have a website too, where we’ll post like drops and things like that, so if you’re ever interested in buying something, and then people can also feel free to again reach out to us on Instagram for like customs or if they ever have something in their mind that they want created. We’re always open to do that as well. Email, as well, works. It’s just secondvibess@gmail.com and you can always reach out via there to set up something.
Editor’s note: This story was updated to clarify Fitzpatrick and Steverson’s job titles.
