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Sustainable Lifestyle Art | Music | Fashion | Culture
Take a look at the designers, the artists and the musicians that are shaping our planet through their creations. Find out more about vintage collections, organic gardens and those who have made it a life mission to reduce their ecological footprint through their business to home life practices.

60′s PSYCHEDELIA & THE BIRTH OF SURF ART | THE LEGEND OF ARTIST RICK GRIFFIN

Rick Griffin is known as a surfer, cartoonist, psychedelic poster artist, legend. Griffin was born near Palos Verdes in 1944, where he took-up surfing at age 14. While he was still in high school in the 50′s he was heavily influenced by Mad magazines comic styling but he soon found his own voice, creating his own surf style that would become iconic. Through his undeniable artistic talent and connections through surfing, Griffin was soon working for surf legend, Greg Noll, among others. After graduating from high school he joined Surfer Magazine as a staff artist– creating the legendary California surf scene character Murphy, and working his way up to Art Director by the time he was of 20. But by 1964, Griffin decided it was time to move on and see what the world outside of So Cal’s tight-knit surfer scene had for him.

View the original article SURF, 60′s PSYCHEDELIA & BORN AGAIN | THE TRINITY OF ARTIST RICK GRIFFIN at The Selvedge Yard

Griffin attended Chouinard Art Institute which would set the course for this next stage of his life.  As an art school student Griffin met fellow artist and future wife, Ida Pfefferle, and started hanging with the Jook Savages– a group of musicians / artists.  In ’66, with the Psychedelic movement tugging at them, Rick & Ida headed to San Francisco, living out of their van for a while, and regrouped with the Jooks– for who Griffin would create his first poster.  His work was soon in high demand for its trademark creative blend of Native American, surf & psychedelic influences.  Everyone wanted Griffin to do their posters– from Jimi Hendrix, to the band his work is most popularly associated with– The Grateful Dead.  Now among the leaders in the poster art industry, Griffin teamed-up with fellow artists Alton Kelley, Stanley “Mouse” Miller, Victor Moscoso, and Wes Wilson to form the Berkeley-Bonaparte distribution agency in ’67– the ultimate poster art producers of that time.

In ’69, Rick Griffin decided it was time to head back home to So Cal– settling with his wife in San Clemente.  John Severson, founder of Surfer magazine, was working on his latest project– a surf film called Pacific Vibrations, and approached Griffin about doing the poster.  What was supposed to take one month turned into an epic six-month drama, well told by Severson himself in the video below.

It was artists like Rick Griffin that helped start the whole t-shirt generation by putting one of a kind artwork on t-shirt blanks. Without talented and original artists like Rick Griffin we would not have the great vintage t-shirts that we have today.

Source copyand Images Courtesy of The Selvedge Yard. Check out The Selvedge Yard for other great articles on men’s style and fashion

Ugly Sweater Holiday Parties

Winter Vintage Party Outerwear

Holiday Party Season: This season don’t miss out on hosting or sponsoring a few winter parties through your vintage shop. Each year the ugly sweater and funky winter outerwear parties have been popping up all over the place. Not just at fun bars and private parties but at workplace functions, fraternity parties and more.

Don’t be left in the cold!

How to take advantage of Holiday Sales by Sponsoring Parties!

Send out an email, put up a sign in your shop and tell your employees to get the word out to all of your customers that your SHOP is the place to go get outfitted for these parties. Don’t be afraid to offer discount codes to group events or specific parties. To do this all you have to do inform party hosts to mention your shop and discount in their party invites or digital Evite’s. It is that simple!

With Retail Mark-ups being some of the highest in the industry it is easy to improve your bottom line this holiday season!

 

Dust Factory Vintage Faux Fur Wholesale are on sale for $16 a jacket online now when purchasing a pack of 12.

Follow Us to  Order Vintage Faux Fur Wholesale for your Store Today!

Dust Factory Vintage Ski Sweaters Wholesale are on sale for $10 a sweater online now when purchasing a pack of 12.

Follow Us to Order Vintage Ski Sweaters!

Offers Valid for a limited time, or while supplies last. If you are outside of the USA you may be unable to process an order through our Online warehouse , FEAR NOT!! If you are having difficulty with the Online warehouse, you can always  email an order into an account representative and they will get back to you with availability and freight rates. . It is that Easy!

The Passion Behind Wholesale Vintage Clothing

Article Originally Published At Born Activist.

For over 12 years now the skilled team of designers and buyers at Dust Factory Vintage Clothing Wholesale has been processing thousands of pounds of clothing a day in attempt to recycle the clothing before it hits the landfills. Each piece that can be used in a vintage retail outlet is sent their wholesale division, pieces that are damaged or stained are sent to the re-construction division and items that are modern or too contemporary for the vintage market are sent to charities.

“The formula took a while to put together, but after a few years of supplying retail stores it all started to come together.” said John Charles, one of the founding members of Dust Factory.

It all started out with a vintage clothing store for the creative team at Dust Factory. Nearly fifteen years ago they opened their first retail store in Dallas, Texas. After studying the market and coming up with a retail formula that worked almost right from the get go, the next obstacle that they had was finding enough product to meet their growing customer demand. At the time there was a small vintage clothing wholesale warehouse in Atlanta, Georgia that was supplying their own chain of retail stores along with a handful of other vintage clothing shops. With a keen understanding of trending products and passion for recycling, Dust Factory purchased the small wholesale vintage clothing company in Atlanta and began developing a plan to wholesale vintage clothing to the far reaches of the world.

“The move from vintage retail to vintage clothing wholesale wasn’t easy, hell, It still isn’t easy, you have so many factors that are uncontrollable that if you don’t have passion for what you are doing you might as well shut the doors and think of something else to do” said John Charles when asked if they were still as passionate about recycling clothing as when they started.

“The buyers and graders have their own set of obstacles, sometimes they can process a hundred pounds of t-shirts and they are lucky to use 60% of them, other times they process a thousand pounds and can only use 20%. There is no telling, it’s not like calling your manufacturer rep in China and saying, double the production on item blah blah blah… We have realy strict criteria that each piece needs to meet as far as quality and style before it makes our grade. Many of our accounts understand how the used clothing industry works and do very well with out vintage mixes, but the more you grow, the more accounts you open, the more accounts you open the more you open yourself up to buyers who have no clue what they are doing.”

Dust Factory produces quality wholesale vintage clothing grades for bulk buyers offering them the convenience of ordering vintage products similar to that of a contemporary brand. Over the years Dust Factory has perfected buying options making it easy for buyers to cater orders to meet their specific needs. As the company continues to grow and takes on new accounts in different markets they often expose themselves to some buyers that attempt to take advantage of their company and service.

“Every brand and company for that matter has to deal with these type of customers,” said Sandy Johnson, one of the International sales rep’s with over 15 years experience in the fashion industry “Imagine selling products sight unseen, you know that the grades are great, your existing customers know that the grades are great but Suzy Q. over here that has no idea how the industry or marketing works thought that she should get a whole batch of 1970′s ACDC and Led Zepplin concert tee’s, I wish it was that easy.  If a vintage item sell’s for over $100 on ebay it is most likely rare, when we get them they go straight to our mixes, but we don’t get them in all the time…nor should we if it is rare. Suzy Q. probably needs to call a target vendor not a vintage wholesaler. What is interesting about Dust Factory is they don’t  advertise these items nor did they develop a business around the them. They knew that there was larger market for the urban vintage style as opposed to the trendy this opened the door to ‘save more clothing‘ as JC puts it, something they learned in their retail days. When it comes to selling vintage clothing wholesale, what might be common sense to some buyers was a get rich quick scam gone bad for another. This makes all the time recycling, grading, cleaning, repairing, sizing, itemizing, shipping and consulting a lot of work for each piece, much much more work than a $1.00 t-shirt with a logo on it made at sweat shop in South America, without a passion for what we are doing none of us would be here.”

Never before has such a passionate and eco-conscience team of designers and buyers worked together with the same goal in mind to educate people about recycling clothing and provide a way for people to open a sustainable business in their communities. If you would like to find out more about wholesale vintage clothing check out Dust Factory Vintage.

Milo – Born Activist “The Passion Behind Wholesale Vintage Clothing” October 31,2011

Vintage Clothing Wholesale

Are you a buyer for a Vintage Clothing Store? Or are you a vintage clothing shop owner looking for a new supplier for your store? If this is you first time purchasing Vintage Clothing Wholesale for your store, then there is a few things that you should know.

Buying Vintage Clothing Wholesale 101

Where do all of those clothes come from?

Often times vintage clothing suppliers process thousands of pounds of clothing either each day or each week looking for the one of a kind items that store buyers are looking for. The first question that many people new to the vintage clothing industry ask is, “Where do all of the clothes come from?” The quick answer is that they come from all over the world, but the long answer is that they come from donations.

1. It Starts With the Donation

You see each time someone donates clothing either in a donation bin, or by having someone pick up the apparel it is sent to a processing plant where the clothing is broken down into different grades. Lets take the Salvation Army for example, because they are one of the larger clothing recyclers around. Now I am aware that there are many other charities like the Good Will and Chalk, however for the sake of explanation we will use the Salvation Army for our example.

2. Donation Center Processing Plant

The first place donated clothing ends up is at the clothing recycling bin or center. These clothing recycling bins are picked up and dropped off at the local distribution plant. At the processing plant, everything is placed on a conveyor belts, I mean everything. This includes everything that was donated, clothing, accessories, household goods, sheets, textiles etc. These processing plants usually have graders or pullers if you will, that pull out modern items that will be sold in the local  Salvation Army Thrift Stores, or whatever thrift store the processing plant supplies. Just in case you are wondering, this is not the Vintage Clothing, this clothing is going to thrift stores, so the puller in most cases are looking for modern or contemporary clothes, not old stuff.

These processing centers only use 5% of the clothing that they process, the rest of the clothing is moved on. After the pullers at the processing plant are done pulling out items for the local thrift stores, the rest of the clothing is put into large containers, or bales and sold by the pound to under privileged countries or to Rag Houses.

3. The Rag House

Now many Rag Houses or Recycled Textile Facilities, have their own way of taking in donations, if they do not they can purchased used clothing in bulk by the pound from larger charities that break down the grades even more. When the clothing arrives to the Rag house, it is usually packed into large 1000lb bales with specific grades or style. Different Rag Houses play different roles when it comes to recycling clothing. Some Rag houses just process the cottons and linens to be turned in whipping rags, other process different grades to be sold over seas, and some do all of this but also pull out vintage for local buyers. It is these rag houses that process Vintage Clothing that we will talk about today.

Rag Houses that Process Vintage Clothing

Vintage Clothing grades that are processed at the rag house specifically for Vintage Buyers is the next step in following the trail of Vintage Clothing. These grades are usually broken down into Women’s,  Men’s and children mixes. Some even go as far as breaking down the clothing from different era’s I.E. Women’s Antique Dresses, Branded Three Button Polo Shirts etc. Others do more of a style breakdown, vintage clothing vs modern clothing.

Some times the mixes come as credential grades. This means that the mix has never been touched or handled by anyone. Often times credential grades are nice to get because you know that you are the first person to process the grade. However this means that you have to process everything, the good the bad and the ugly. You will be lucky to be able to use 5% of a credential grade, but you may find just one piece in that grade that is worth it, or not, it is always a gamble when you are recycling clothing.

4. The Vintage Clothing Wholesaler

Vintage Clothing Wholesalers and Suppliers work hand in hand with the rag houses that process vintage clothing, teaching their workers and buyers what is valuable for resale as Vintage. These mixes are then processed and sold to the Vintage Wholesaler so that they can begin processing the mixes for retail buyers.

At Dust Factory we then process the clothing even more breaking down each grade into a specific style and quality. The graders in the Dust Factory processing plants are more advanced when it comes to Vintage Clothing retail, then the graders at the Rag Houses. This is because each grader has had a minimum of three years experience working Vintage Retail before they can start grading for Dust Factory. We have found over the years that this ensures a quality mix for our buyers. What is damaged or stained is then sold to vintage refurbished companies so that the items can be re-constructed into a new garment. What is considered modern or undesirable for vintage buyers is donated to local charities or disaster relief organizations.

The clothing that is used for our mixes is then broken down into size and style runs. This gives our buyers the opportunity to get the same high quality mixes each time. Because we are a bulk wholesaler we do not pull out rare or desirable items for buyers with a limited market, but instead leave these items in our mixes to ensure the quality of our mixes for our bulk buyers. Over the years we have found that it is better not to let buyers hand pick mixes from our grades, this is so that we can keep the quality of our grades up.

If you are looking for a quality bulk supply of vintage clothing for your store, then Dust Factory Vintage Clothing Wholesale could possibly the solution that you are looking for.

What to Look Out For When Buying Vintage Clothing Wholesale

Now there are a few Vintage Clothing Suppliers out there that may operate a little differently. Some Vintage Clothing Warehouse Wholesalers have their own retail stores, I would be very cautious of ordering wholesale form these type of suppliers for good reason. In most cases these suppliers are getting their Vintage Clothing in bulk from the Rag House, then take out the rare and good selling items and put them in their own retail shop or shops, leaving the rest of the un-desirable items to be sold as wholesale. A good quality vintage wholesaler does not do this at all, but instead leaves the hard to find rare items in their mix so that their mixes and grades are desirable by everyone.

Other things to Remember When Purchasing Vintage Wholesale :

• Look out for Vintage Clothing Wholesalers that let buyers hand pick from their location – this will always mess up the quality of their grades.
• Look Out for Vintage Clothing Wholesalers that have their own retail shops or online retail stores -  they will keep the good products for their shops and sale the rest to you as wholesale
• If you have a limited market, purchasing Vintage Clothing Wholesale may not be the best investment for your funds - you will need to find you products another way.
• Look Out for Rag Houses that wholesale vintage clothing- If they sale used and vintage clothing, often times their vintage grades are mostly modern, and not resealable as vintage.

For more information about Ordering Vintage Clothing Wholesale for you store check out our FAQ’s Follow Us >

Also check out the Article Why Vintage Clothing for more information about Vintage Clothing.