Bargain Hunter
(Photo: Haley Cormier)
Val Randazzo, BS’22 (Flor)
By Kenna Caprio
Val Randazzo, BS’22 (Flor), says that the best place to start thrifting is in your own closet.
“The average garment only gets seven wears. Buy clothing that you really love, and that you can see yourself wearing up to 10, 20 or 30 times. That’s the best way to make sustainable fashion choices — by building a wardrobe you love.”
As co-owner of Afterglow Vintage, a popular secondhand fashion retailer, Randazzo specializes in locating, preserving and reselling vintage T-shirts (and other garments) circa the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s.
“I think that there’s no greater way to express yourself than through a T-shirt,” she says. “Wearing a vintage tee says, ‘I stand for this graphic and what it portrays about me.’ But you’re also saying, ‘I care about the environment and about wearing sustainable garments.’ Making a conscious choice to wear secondhand clothing is about making an impact.”
Most of the shirts she sells are related to pop culture, cartoons or movies. “Anything nostalgic and cool,” she says.
She’s been into thrifting since childhood, her first taste coming as she and her mom scoured racks for gymnastics gear and leotards. Randazzo’s grandmother also sparked her interest in fashion — “she was a seamstress and had this remarkable gift where she could just look at a dress, sketch it up and make it.”
During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Randazzo switched her major from nursing to marketing, and took her hobby and turned it into an income-generating passion project.
“A lot of our business comes to us through social media, but we also do pop-up events across the Northeast.” Randazzo and her boyfriend and business partner, Louis Mednick, BS’22, MS’23 (Flor), set up tables and booths at flea markets and thrift conventions.
Their biggest success to date was a showcase last year at New York Fashion Week.
In collaboration with Remake, an organization that champions human rights, sustainability and climate justice within the fashion industry, Randazzo walked at fashion week. Originally, a model was supposed to walk in the show, wearing vintage looks curated by Randazzo, but she stormed off set. So, Randazzo, who has done pageants in the past, stepped in.
“The carbon footprint of the fashion industry is enormous. A big aspect of our business is promoting sustainability in fashion and educating customers,” she says. “I want people to know they’re doing good — by selling or buying vintage clothes — and to feel good about what they’re wearing.” Plus, she says, “I’m the kind of person who is always going to say ‘yes,’ and this was an opportunity we couldn’t miss!”
Looking ahead, Randazzo wants to see Afterglow Vintage join a collective, occupying a shared space with other vintage and sustainable vendors. She intends to keep Afterglow as a side business, as she continues her career as a digital marketing specialist for Push The Envelope PR, doing content creation for fashion and beauty brands and working with influencers.
She’s able to use her PR and marketing skills to benefit both Push The Envelope PR and Afterglow Vintage.
“The fashion thread has carried through everything, and so has my willingness to take chances,” Randazzo says.
Ultimately, she feels a responsibility to preserve the garments she thrifts, for environmental, historical and cultural reasons.
“Only so many of these garments exist,” says Randazzo. “The clothes used to belong to someone else, now they’re mine, and I get to continue the story.”
PET PARENT
“I have a pet axolotl — an aquatic salamander — and two dogs.”
CLOTHING CARE
“Do not put your vintage clothes in the dryer! I handwash my super special T-shirts and hang them to dry. The dryer can shrink a garment or damage the graphics.”
Randazzo and Mednick carefully preserve the items they resell, using gentle detergents and spot cleaners to restore the vintage garments.
CLUTCH FIND
“There’s this Nirvana T-shirt featuring a heart-shaped box. That’s any vintage tee collector’s holy grail! It’s a $10,000 shirt.”