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1918 Vintage: Kansas City's own online vintage shop
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A local FIDM graduate sets her sights on vintage clothing with a technological twist. Meg Lewis of Kansas City, MO, decided to put all of her skills into one basket and create a vintage clothing website. 1918 Vintage offers vintage clothing and accessories to everyone no matter where in the world they may be. Below is my convo with Meg on being an online business owner and fashions from back in the day.
Me: How has fashion impacted your life?
Meg Lewis: I definitely think that life was simpler before I cared about fashion. For 1918 Vintage I have to keep up to date on current trends so I'm always looking at runway shows, current collections and blogs every day to see what's going on. Fashion has definitely consumed my life.
Me: Where did the idea of an online store come about?
ML: I've always loved so many aspects of art and design. I liked doing so many things and couldn't pick one field I was interested. I loved Graphic Design, Photography and Fashion. Having an online store was really the only way I could do all of the things I love at once! I've always shopped online and love the idea of having a virtual storefront.
Me: Would you ever have a store people could come into?
ML: At this point it isn't something I'm interested in. I love traveling and moving about from place to place. Having an online store allows for me to move and travel whenever I want. Also, having an online business allows me to interact with a lot of customers from different nationalities. 40% of my business comes from foreign countries and I love that! I just wouldn't get that from a tangible storefront.
Me:. What is your education background in fashion?
ML: I've been lucky enough to have a great fashion education. In 2008 I received my degree from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) in Los Angeles. My major was Visual Communications which is a design major without fashion design. At FIDM I learned a lot about fashion styling, retail space planning, graphic design and visual merchandising. After graduating I immediately moved back to Kansas City, where the rent was cheaper, and got to work opening 1918 Vintage.
Me: How difficult is it to run your own online business?
ML: Running an online business is definitely very challenging. You have to be great at multitasking. Each day is completely different. Every day starts out with packing and putting together orders but after that it varies from day to day. Some days I'm doing a photoshoot with models, other days I'm shopping for new inventory. There's usually at least 4 hours a day of sitting at the computer making graphics, replying to emails, creating blog posts and adding new items to the store. You definitely have to be a great multitasker to own an online business.
Me: Where do you find the models for your site?
ML: Believe it or not, most of my models are my friends! I've been lucky enough to have some of the most beautiful friends that happen to be great models. Some models are definitely better than others, and I get a lot of feedback from customers on which models they do and don't like! '
Me: Where do you find the pieces for your business?
ML: I go out and get every bit of my merchandise myself. I usually hit up 20 or so thrift stores a month. That's always combined with Estate Sales, although those are usually hit or miss. I love scowering through the merchandise at thrift stores to see what I can find. Sometimes I leave with nothing and sometimes I hit a jackpot!
Don't forget to check out the website, follow 1918 Vintage on Twitter and add them to your Facebook!
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