Goodwill Hunting #09: Kate Bush, internet culture & 1980s hot girl summer
Goodwill Hunting #09: Kate Bush, internet culture & 1980s hot girl summer
Goodwill Hunting curates the best of pre-loved fashion, insights & jobs from across the web
A newsletter curating the best of pre-loved fashion finds, insights, and jobs from across the web. Written by Danielle L. Vermeer, a product manager and avid thrifter obsessed with fashion, tech, curation, and circularity.
Are we being teed up for an 80s hot girl summer?
Streams of Kate Bush's 37-year-old song "Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)" surged over 8,000% over the last week (source). Why? Because the song was featured in a hauntingly beautiful scene in the latest season of Netflix's Stranger Things.
TikTok users remixed the song to over 300M views. YouTuber listeners streamed it over 100M times. I even wrote a doc to the extended one-hour, trance-like version last week. The OG Kate Bush fans were bewildered—even irritated—that it took this long for the youths to discover her.
To be fair, most Millennials were born after this song even came out. As one listener wrote, “Thank you Stranger Things for reminding everyone why the 80s where great and showing people some great songs they might not otherwise know about.”
“The girls that get it, get it, and the girls that don't, don't,” as the viral voiceover by creator Mikhaela Jennings (497K TikTok followers) has said.
Internet culture enables and amplifies these viral moments. In a hyper-polarized culture, it's a rare delight when everyone can rally for (or against) a moment. For example, last week the internet collectively gasped when they learned that Swedish hosts don't typically feed their kids' friends who are over at their house playing (source).
So what does Kate Bush going viral mean for secondhand fashion?
It means that the culture, content, commerce flywheel is speeding up for nostalgic style. Nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake—of the before time of pre-Internet, pre-Extremely Online™, pre-Covid, pre-mass school shootings, pre-Ukraine war, pre-all this.
Think Top Gun bomber jackets and aviator sunglasses. Kate Bush big hair and feminine yet grunge aesthetics. Poolsuite 80s vibes with latest playlists, sunscreen, and beverage drops.
♻️ pre-loved fashion under $100
Vintage Mickey Mouse & Co Denim Jacket, size M/L from ShopGoodwill (currently $10)
Vintage 1980s neon mini dress, size S/M from ShopGoodwill (currently $15)
Stranger Things neon shirt, size M from Ebay ($25)
Vintage 1980s floral bathing suit, size S from Poshmark ($38)
Vintage 1980s Levi’s acid wash jeans, size 30x32 from Etsy ($90)
📕 must-reads in fashion, tech & circularity
Consumers Want Resale—But the Business Model Needs Refining (Forerunner Ventures). The next phase of resale is emerging. In Phase 1, horizontal marketplaces like Craigslist & Ebay domainted. In Phase 2, managed & vertical marketplaces like ThredUp and The RealReal provided a verticalized experience. In Phase 3, resale-as-a-service startups like Recurate empower brands to own their secondary channels. What will Phase 4 look like?
ThredUP 2022 Resale Report. 93% of U.S. shoppers have already or are open to buying secondhand products (+23ppt vs 2019). My biggest takeaway was that 82% of consumers who have shopped secondhand said they feel positive emotions when they buy used vs. negative ones when they buy fast fashion.
Inside Fashionphile’s Interactive 60,000 Square-foot Store (WWD). Fashionphile opened an authentication center, “handbag spa”, and selling studio in NYC for customers to tour the space and shop vintage bags from a Clueless-like carousel. Fashionphile’s CEO reported an amazing stat: 78% who visit their physical boutique end up purchasing something.
✨ jobs in circular fashion
Business & Marketing
AirRobe — Business Development Manager. Partner with fashion brands to enable consumers to resell, rent, or recycle the item in one-click.
Ebay — Reloved Fashion Category Manager. Shape the fashion preloved category strategy with buyers, sellers, retailers, and brands.
Thrift+ — Chief Operating Officer. Lead vision, strategy, and business for the fast-growing resale marketplace.
Vestiaire Collective — Global Influencer Manager. Support influencer strategy and global reporting processes.
Product & Tech
Depop — Sr. Technical Product Manager. Product lead for ML-driven recommendations for secondhand buyers and sellers.
EON — Technical Product Manager. Lead product roadmap and execution for digital ID tech startup.
Nuuly — Front-end Engineer. Build web user interfaces for Nuuly, an Urban Outfitters-owned peer-to-peer resale platform.
Rent the Runway — Senior Manager, Site Experience. Lead digital merchandising and personalization across the user experience.
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And lastly…
Goodwill Find of the Week: vintage Schiaparelli coat
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