Downtown Phoenix is home to many vintage clothes stores, but one of the most unique and inclusive businesses is Crisp U.S. Thrift.
Crisp U.S. Thrift was founded in 2017 by T. Diani Shepherd and Kyra Trent.
Shepherd and Trent met at Arizona State University where they were both studying African American history. According to their business’ website, Trent is an art historian and Black culture enthusiast, and Shepherd is an anthropologist and fashion historian.
Trent said she and Shepherd merged their love of studying culture and people over time and studying fashion together and that’s what inspires the work they do.
“I’ve really have always been interested in how, you know, cultural people have this like really cool fashion sense, no matter where you go,” said Trent. “It’s like, people with the most intersections are like, the most fashionable and the and the most resourceful with the things that they have.”
Shepherd said their business is inspired by the American history of Crispus Attucks. According to the business’s website, Attucks was an American Revolutionary of Black and Indian heritage who died as both an American hero and runaway slave. The website also says their work is done “in honor of those who’ve been purposefully written out of history and their descendants.”
Their work is also inspired by the need for representation for non-binary and gender non-conforming people in fashion and to “highlight their contributions to the American fashion landscape,” said Shepherd.
Shepherd explained that they make their clothes gender non-conforming and never divide their shop by men’s or women’s clothes in the hopes of creating a space where transgender and gender non-conforming people feel represented, welcome and thought about in the shopping process.
“We hope to offer a space for folks to shop who love vintage, who love and care about the earth that will not discriminate against them based on any of their marginal qualities,” said Shepherd.
Eddie Zakreski and Josalynn Rightnour are customers who have been visiting Crisp U.S. Thrift at the local farmers market for over a year. Zakreski said he keeps coming back because the shop offers “the cream of the crop of thrifting” and shoppers can get the best of thrifting that’s “tailored for you.”
He said when he bought a custom bag from Crisp U.S. Thrift and he needed an adjustment, Shepherd and Trent had it ready within a one-week turnaround.
Rightnour has been visiting the business with Zakreski and said what she likes best about Crisp U.S. Thrift is their commitment to reclaiming vintage items and using vintage materials.
“We have custom items made by them on their vintage sewing machines, which is very interesting,” said Rightnour.
Along with the business’s goal to lift up “communities through the liberative work of storytelling, restoration and style,” according to their website, Crisp U.S. Thrift also has a goal to limit “textile waste in our landfills and oceans.”
All their clothes are upcycled and everything they use is completely recycled, including their sewing machines and the tables they bring to events like the farmers market.
Trent explained some examples of how they upcycle clothing is turning a pair of jeans into cut-off jean shorts or taking the collar off a 1990s Wrangler denim shirt to make it more stylish for today’s fashion. She also said that as seamstresses, they also have experience taking denim and old blankets and fabrics and turning them into things like pillows to “give fabrics and textiles a new life.”
“All of our products, including, you know, down to our tables, and the things we even set up with are all recycled materials,” said Trent. “All of them were going to go to a landfill or were donated to us.”
Contact the reporter at njordan7@asu.edu.
