Nicole Stark Shares Her Experience as the Founder of Glownic.

Glownic is an online and pop-up vintage shop specialising in curated 2000s and 90s clothing and accessories. Nicole Stark, a black bi-racial woman from Scotland started Glownic at the age of 16 selling on Depop eventually evolving further with having her own website for online shopping and having regular pop up events.

We wanted to know more about her view on vintage clothing and how she's changing the vintage market as we know it, inspiring a new generation of people of colour to create their own businesses.

J- What about vintage clothing and style do you like the most? the unique looks? the nostalgia?

N- I definitely love the nostalgia, even though I wasn't like fully sentient, all the shows that I watched, the things that my mum wore. It highly reflects the things that I was buying and selling. I also just love the style, when you find things that are 1 of 1, it's unique fashion.

J- And how do you source the pieces you sell?

N- Well my favourite why to source is definitely travelling and going to markets, you really get a hands-on experience, hand selecting the things you want to get and rummaging through the clothes physically. It's a really fun experience, I think my favourite markets are definitely in Italy.

J- As a black woman, does your identity influence your business practices?

N- I find myself in POC selling groups when it comes to like pop-up events, I definitely say when it comes to (me) resonating with 90s and 2000s style, so much of it originates in specifically Black-American culture and youth culture. So I do find that my identity resonates with a lot of the aesthetics and the "blueprints" of these styles.

J- Finally, what message would you like to convey to those who have supported you, especially fellow young black woman who may find inspiration in your journey?

N- Honestly, thanks for showing up, especially in Edinburgh where the vintage scene isn't huge. People do come to my pop-ups and do come to my clearance sales, it's always crazy to think that I was able to build an audience out of social media and a Depop account. I would say to other POC women who want to sell, I would say that the Depop selling environment is a very white female occupied space, I think sometimes when it comes to brand collabs and these things you do have to work that bit harder, but you will succeed. It's easy to be tokenised when it comes to working with brands, I do sometimes find myself being the 1 token black woman. You just have to work hard to stay true to your identity and don't become a figure where you fit into a box or the y2k baddie stereotype.

We understand the importance of sustainability in fashion as much as we understand the importance of diversity. Nicole represents many young black girls in the UK that have all the intelligence to build their own businesses they just need the support. We hope with this inspiring conversation with Nicole we can open up more conversation around intersectionality within business especially fashion and encourage more inclusivity within the sector.

For online shopping head to https://shopglownic.com

For more information about her pop-ups and restocks follow Nicole @nicolekimberlystark on Instagram

nicole's ig

Of course you can always reach out to us if you have further questions on social media and email @clobberdotcom on all platforms. Additionally share your sustainable finds and tag us to get reposted!