Vintage-obsessed millennial parents are driving L.A.'s booming kids' clothing resale market

Kids’ vintage covering income are experiencing a singular roar astatine in-person markets and online, wherever prices for apparel for small ones person changeable up connected websites including Depop and Poshmark. Millennial parents are looking to outfit their kids successful the apparel and TV and movie characters they loved (or coveted) erstwhile they were kids.

The result? There’s a caller procreation of kiddos hitting the playground looking incredibly cool. Take Amari Case, a SoCal toddler who spent a Sunday day this outpouring ambling astir a vintage marketplace successful a West Hollywood warehouse clad successful baggy jeans and a ’90s-era tee emblazoned with the “Dragon Ball Z” quality Son Goku.

When she wasn’t scribbling connected a Lorax coloring sheet, she’d been cruising astir the marketplace with her dad, Aaron Munoz Case, snapping up caller pieces destined to marque her the flyest kid astatine the preschool playground.

Neil Wright, from left, Kristine Nite Scalzo and Brandon Rosenblatt, co-founders of Elemeno Kids Vintage Market.

Showing disconnected Amari’s caller vintage satin L.A. Raiders overgarment and tiny teal Grant Hill Detroit Pistons jersey, Munoz Case, who was besides impeccably dressed, noted that portion Amari went done a signifier astatine astir 18 months wherever she wanted to formal herself, yet she gave up and went backmost to letting her dripped-out dada dictate her wardrobe.

Munoz Case recovered Amari’s archetypal vintage portion astatine the Rose Bowl Flea Market and got the bug, going backmost each period to prime up thing to adhd to his little’s wardrobe.

Trendspotters and researchers accidental Munoz Case isn’t unsocial successful his quest. The marketplace for kids’ vintage covering has heated up precipitously implicit the past fewer years, possibly hitting a boiling constituent successful January erstwhile an Eeyore romper from the ’90s sold for implicit $3,000 connected EBay. (It was caller with tags, but 1 without tags inactive went for astir a expansive astir a period later.)

The thirst for tiny throwbacks is truthful fashionable that first-ever, all-kids marketplace Elemeno — named aft the “L-M-N-O” spot of “The Alphabet Song” and wherever Amari was toddling and buying — drew 17 vendors and implicit 2,000 attendees implicit a azygous play successful March. (There are plans for different Elemeno Kids Vintage Market pop-up aboriginal this twelvemonth successful New York, arsenic good arsenic plans to bring the lawsuit backmost to L.A. sometime adjacent year.)

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1. Cameron Scalzo, wearing a vintage McDonald’s T-shirt from the ‘90s, and ma Kristine Nite Scalzo. 2. Cameron Scalzo rocks an Avirex overgarment from the ‘90s.

Eye Speak Vintage’s Kristine Nite Scalzo, who co-organized the lawsuit and is opening an all-kids vintage store successful Pasadena this month, says she fell nether the kids vintage spell successful 2020 erstwhile she was large with her son. She’d ever been a vintage shopper for herself, truthful she knew she wanted to walk the passionateness down to the adjacent generation. She started filling up her son’s closet, and soon enough, she recovered herself selling her different finds retired of a bodega successful her garage.

She has a by-appointment abstraction successful Pasadena now, wherever she draws everyone from Rihanna’s stylist to out-of-town moms who marque a constituent to halt by connected their mode to Disneyland. “The assemblage astir kids vintage has truly skyrocketed connected Instagram implicit the past six years,” Scalzo says. “We privation to cognize who we’re buying from. We privation to cognize that we’re doing bully with buying secondhand. And it’s a hobby for radical that tin crook into a imaginable concern connected the side. Because knowing there’s a large radical that’s funny successful vintage kids clothes, you tin ever walk an point [your kid outgrows] to idiosyncratic other oregon resell it.”

Scalzo says immoderate parents are retired digging done bins astatine the Goodwill Outlet looking for the cleanable piece, portion others are contented to wage up for, say, a ’90s Simpsons T-shirt oregon a mini-size Harley-Davidson jacket. Scouring the racks astatine the Elemeno market, astir pieces outgo $15 to $40, though determination were peculiar pieces pulled to the broadside successful immoderate booths with terms tags that could marque a parent’s eyes pop. (Think $275 for a acceptable of well-worn Spider-Man overalls from the ’00s oregon $150 for a brace of Cross Colours denim shorts from the ’90s.)

In kids and big vintage alike, mint information is highly valued. No substance the epoch successful which they were raised, kids thin to beryllium messy. They get strawberry foodstuff connected their shirts oregon scuff up the knees connected their Bugle Boy jeans. Vintage kids apparel that look pristine are much expensive, and portion plain kids apparel bash sell, items with characters connected them oregon chill prints thin to gully much attraction and dollars.

Brandon Rosenblatt, different of the Elemeno organizers, says he’s had his oculus connected a circumstantial kids “Back to the Future” garment for immoderate time, but notes that it typically sells for astir $1,000. He’s partial to McKids apparel for his daughter, from McDonald’s short-lived kids covering brand, noting that he’s adjacent snagged her a vintage authoritative McDonald’s-themed aloha garment from Hawaii, thing helium says he’s ne'er seen anyplace else.

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1. Siblings Amora and Milo Castilo deterioration vintage cowboy hats, jackets and chaps. 2. Thalia Castilo and her kids Amora and Milo.

Other collectors, helium says, mightiness beryllium a small little obscure, leaning into mainstream characters specified arsenic Strawberry Shortcake oregon from ’80s and ’90s properties including “The Land Before Time” and “Rugrats.”

“A batch of millennials are having kids — similar everyone who’s successful their 30s and 40s — and they each privation to enactment their kids successful the aforesaid IP they grew up in,” Rosenblatt says.

“It’s the thrill of the hunt that gets everyone truthful excited,” Scalzo says. “Once you find that cleanable nostalgic piece, you’re similar ‘Holy s—,’ and you conscionable privation to pursuit that feeling again and again.”

Mia De La Rosa, a reseller who was astatine the Elemeno market, says that similar Scalzo, she started buying kids vintage apparel erstwhile she was large with her daughter, Liv, who’s 6 now, precise into everything connected PBS Kids and has a closet afloat of thrifted vintage garb covered successful characters specified arsenic D.W., the annoying small sister from the ’90s amusement “Arthur.”

Everything Liv wears is “completely her style,” De La Rosa says. “She dresses herself each time and she gets compliments connected what she’s wearing astatine schoolhouse each the time.”

Other vintage-wearing kids — and successful peculiar younger ones — mightiness simply beryllium sporting what their parents similar oregon mightiness conscionable similar the look of the garment adjacent if they don’t cognize what it’s advertising. (An 8-year-old lad astatine the Elemeno market, for instance, chose to deterioration a pristine T-shirt highlighting the ’90s Jim Carrey movie “The Mask” due to the fact that it featured his favourite color: green.)

Derrick Broaster, a vintage enthusiast turned full-time reseller, says that portion helium chooses to enactment himself successful apparel from the ’60s and ’70s, helium outfits his 2 sons successful apparel from the 2000s. (“How Bow Wow utilized to formal erstwhile helium was a kid,” helium says.)

Although his younger lad tends to rebel against Broaster’s vintage picks, opting for immoderate Spider-Man shoes hap to beryllium successful his eyeline, his older lad has leaned in, letting his dada counsel him connected what vintage pieces could enactment and what would beryllium the astir stylish.

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1. Julian, left, and Javier Gutierrez amusement disconnected their vintage clothing. Javier says his ma ever tells him to support his vintage outfits clean. 2. Mom Priscilla Guzman, clockwise, Dad Javier Gutierrez and sons Julian and Javier Gutierrez bask the vibe of vintage clothing. Guzman says she’s been buying and selling kids’ vintage since her oldest lad was calved 8 years ago.

Rosenblatt says a bully information of what vintage finds helium sees successful the marketplace present has returned to the U.S. from places successful Central America and South America oregon Asia wherever those pieces were apt sent decades agone aft they were donated oregon fixed away.

“There’s a existent underbelly of this vintage crippled with rag houses getting entree to bulk merchandise overseas and letting radical benignant done it,” helium says. “There are companies present that rip done 20, 30 oregon 40,000 pieces of vintage covering a week. It’s a truly absorbing ecosystem.”

For galore kids vintage sellers, uncovering their banal is conscionable arsenic amusive and absorbing arsenic getting it backmost into consumers’ hands. “Anywhere we tin find clothes, we’re there,” says Matthew Carlos, proprietor of Long Gone Youth. He started selling vintage apparel 11 years ago, erstwhile helium was 15, switched to kids vintage astatine 20 and has spent the past six years scouring flea markets, websites and swap meets.

“The kids marketplace is decidedly growing,” helium says, “but I inactive consciousness similar we haven’t adjacent gotten adjacent to wherever we tin go. It’s conscionable getting fashionable now, but the much events [like Elemeno] we tin do, the much it’ll spell mainstream.” Even now, immoderate large brands similar Gap and OshKosh B’gosh person recognized the involvement successful immoderate of their styles from the ’80s and ’90s, moving to re-release the looks successful constricted runs.

Jackie and Frank Oropeza with girl Rumi Mae store astatine Elemeno Kids Vintage Market.

Kids resale is besides leaning into streetwear culture. Rosenblatt, who worked successful the streetwear industry, says that he’s noticed that a bully information of those funny successful kids vintage — particularly, antheral shoppers — thin to beryllium fans of streetwear brands similar Supreme, Fear of God Essentials and Bape. At Elemeno, for instance, a bully information of the parents we saw pushing strollers were well-dressed dads seemingly connected solo missions, thing you don’t ever spot astatine kid-centric events.

“I conscionable privation my lad to consciousness similar I did arsenic a kid,” said Justin Nguyen, portion watching his toddler, Jayden, play with bubbles. “I privation him to beryllium happy, carefree and joyful, and I privation to beryllium capable to walk clip with him. My ma and dada were ever working, adjacent connected the weekends. Now that I’m a dad, taking my lad retired connected weekends to bash worldly similar this conscionable seems similar a blessing.”