Brand Highlights: I sit down with the founders or reps of my favourite brands and get their insight on the fashion industry, details about their business and themselves… first up (drum roll):
Cherish the Day
Founded by Darya Kosilova, Cherish the Day is a vintage and second-hand online store that values uniqueness, authenticity and sustainability. They put emphasis on individual action; "by offsetting your purchases and buying second hand you are improving your consumer habits while being less wasteful."
At this point, at least half of my closet is from Cherish the Day. I am always impressed by the uniqueness and quality of their products. I was very excited to gain more insight into Darya's world and role in the fashion industry. She is running a very successful business and building a renowned brand. I hope you all enjoy her insight as much as I did!
P.S. Darya notes that her closet must-have is a leather motorcycle jacket - which she will be buried in.
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In your opinion what sets Cherish apart from other vintage clothing businesses?
Darya: Transparency. We work extremely hard to ensure that all our products are represented with accuracy and complete honesty. There are many vintage/ second-hand sellers out there making false claims about their products or manipulating the fit in pictures. At Cherish we never assume the origins of a garment nor do we clip and pin the garments to look flattering on the model. If we don’t know something we say it and do our best to provide as much information as we can to help our buyers make an informed buying decision.
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What is the process like for finding unique products?
The sourcing process is challenging, exhausting, exciting, and rewarding all at the same time. We source every single item by hand meaning that none of our inventory comes from online vintage wholesale or bulk ordering. We are constantly travelling from place to place, visiting a variety of sources from thrift stores to people’s private homes to find unique pieces. Some days feel too good to be true when we are able to source a multitude of amazing pieces in a short period of time. Other days it’s like hitting a brick wall over and over again. But that’s what makes the sourcing process so exciting and interesting.
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Do you try to get a wide variety of sizes?
We do as best as we can to have a variety of sizes in our shop. However, if we are unsure of what the intended fit of a garment is we leave the item behind. Certain types of garments like knitwear and jackets are fairly self explanatory and are easy to represent on any size. Other pieces like pants and dresses are a bit trickier because there are multiple physical components that need to be considered. For example, my worst pet peeve is when I see a larger sized denim or trouser clipped at the waist of a tiny model. The waist looks synched and the rest of the pant looks oversized and wide. It’s a great look but that’s not at all how the pant is going to fit in the leg of someone who has the true corresponding waist size of the pant. At this time because Cherish is still such a small business I model all the clothing myself and I do happen to be a smaller size. One of our biggest goals is to be able to hire a diverse group of models and expand the sizing we sell.
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What's your favourite part of running Cherish?
The creative direction. I have a degree in Visual Arts and have held positions in creative careers all my life. Being able to channel all my creativity in creating the marketing for my own brand is incredibly rewarding. I also love “the hunt” of the sourcing process. Going to new and sometimes strange places, meeting interesting people, considering the history and new potential of a garment, all those things are super thrilling to me.
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What's one piece of advice you would give to anyone looking to start a career in the fashion industry?
There are so many different careers in the fashion industry so it’s hard to pick one solid piece of advice for starting out in all of them. But speaking directly to what I do, my biggest advice is to really stick to your gut and your taste when sourcing vintage, styling, and creating imagery. You will never ever be able to replicate someone else’s success and style. You have to trust yourself. You’re never going to get what you don’t ask for so believing in yourself and putting your all out there is the only way to be truly successful.
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Who do you get your style inspiration from? And what/ who is your favourite brand or designer?.
My favourite style icon of all time is Sade. Fun fact, our shop name “Cherish the Day” is named after her song of the same title. She is my absolute dream woman and I think she’s one of the greatest artists of all time. I also get inspiration from various cultural movements, street style photography from different decades and characters in movies. For example, the movie The Craft (1996) is one of my greatest 90s style inspirations for Cherish.
I love vintage Jean Paul Gaultier, Celine (Phoebe Philo era), Yves Saint Laurent and Roberto Cavalli to name a few of the classics. However, due to the magic of social media I’m constantly discovering independent brands doing the coolest, most innovative work. It’s hard to pick just one!
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What do you like most about the fashion industry? What do you dislike?
That’s a tough question. The fashion industry is an absolute beast with a lot of things to love and hate about it. I love the artists it produces whether it be designers, photographers, stylists, creative directors, etc. I don’t love the waste and horrible unethical practices it has normalized when it comes to production, the environment, and consumer habits and mental health. Also, as someone who has modelled for the last 14 years, I hate the way the industry treats 99.9% of models. As a woman and simply a human being some of my most horrible experiences and interactions in my life happened while on the job.
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You’ve stated that you worked for various global e-commerce companies. Now that you practice sustainability within your own clothing business do you believe it is realistic for larger companies to implement more rigorous sustainability policies/ practices?
I absolutely think industry giants can change. But they’re not going to change unless the consumer changes. At the end of the day, companies like Boohoo, Shein, Zara, H&M, Fashion Nova, to name a few, are just doing what people want them to do. And that’s to produce extremely cheap garments that arrive at their doorstep pretty much overnight. I do believe and see that there is a huge shift in consumer awareness but it’s going to take a lot of education, innovation, and uprise just like every other movement that is happening in our world right now. Consumers need to shift from asking “why is this so expensive?” to asking “why is this so cheap?”. Industry giants need to be placed in a position where they have to choose to either sink or swim but that’s only going to happen if the consumer puts them there.
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If you answered yes to the previous question, would you have any suggestions or first steps for how this could be made possible based on your experience?
Start by buying less from these massive, cheap brands and buying more second-hand. That’s why people like me are making it their job to find you the best of the best of second-hand clothing. I’m not saying people should stop buying new garments altogether but a healthy mix of new and old in every person’s closet is a very good first step.
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What do you do with the pieces you don’t end up selling?
It’s actually pretty rare that something doesn’t sell. I also don’t mind sitting on inventory for a long time because I believe there is a buyer for just about everything out there. Sometimes it just takes time. However, if I truly feel hopeless about something I’ll simply donate it to a non-profit organization I support.
Times I sported my favourite Cherish the Day Pieces:
