GROWop transformed its front porch on Wednesday night as the clothing store displayed vintage finds, curated by ASU design student and resident cool girl Madeleine Alexandra Browning.
Before the event, I did some Internet browsing, as we millennials do, and came across Browning’s hip, dreamy, and frequently active Instagram account which boasts over 19,000 followers. I scrolled through ethereal selfies, nature snaps of mountains and flowers and hunger-inducing brunch photos, then immediately clicked “follow.”
I could definitely see this effortlessly chic vibe in the apparel on display outside GROWop. I dug through the racks of clothes from Browning herself and loved the mix of glam, quirky and preppy duds. Pieces I kept going back to included a black daisy dress with a boxy silhouette, a mini floral knapsack, a polo with so many shades of pastel it looked like ice cream, and a plethora of retro-looking bodysuits that had me dreaming of summer.
“A lot of this is my stuff that I’ve been holding onto for awhile, and I’m like, okay I’ve gotta get it out,” Browning said. “I still love a lot of these pieces. I just feel like I’m ready to move on and share them with other people.”
Browning told me the pieces are from her travels all over the world, including Malaysia, India and Amsterdam.
“I really like the idea of classic pieces that you can wear with anything, and you can mix vintage pieces with new pieces,” she said. “So I look for stuff that’s timeless and easy to wear, unique, and stuff that I love. I feel like if I love it, there’s gotta be some other people that do.”
Browning said she plans to launch an online store soon so she can sell more vintage goods, repurposed pieces, and more international items.
In the meantime, the Arcadia resident says she spends her days studying design at ASU, styling, shooting photographs, traveling and finding new places to thrift shop, including GROWop.
“I met Josh (Hahn, owner of GROWop) through passing, then I recently did a photo shoot with him for his store and helped him style it,” Browning said. “I told him I was interested in starting a vintage store, and then he said, well why don’t you have a pop-up?”
Also on display were dreamy Polaroid pictures for browsing and some cheese and crackers for snacking. I also popped inside the GROWop store to check out their regular inventory, my favorite of which included quirky $6 cards with phrases like “You’re a Keeper” (featuring a photo of a beekeeper, naturally) that I was tempted to buy.
“I really love GROWop just because I love the store, plus the Airbnb, plus the garden area,” Browning said. “I just love that it’s kind of open and a very chill spot.”
Browning said what she loves about fashion is the ability to put on something new every day and rock it.
“Fashion is a way to express how you feel on the inside without having to explain yourself,” she said. “I love helping people find things that they love. I’m really passionate about people feeling good in what they wear and finding pieces that they think are timeless and they love.”
Contact the columnist at lallnatt@asu.edu
