White Tiger Vintage
248 King Street East, Kitchener
whitetigervintage@gmail.com
Website
Miranda Campbell,
From California to Kitchener
When Miranda Campbell returned home to Kitchener in 2011 after working on an organic farm in California, she decided to act on a dream that had always lingered in the back of her mind. At 24-years-old, she decided to turn her love for vintage clothing into a business she could be proud of. For the first five months after returning, she worked as a server at a Waterloo restaurant and saved enough money to open White Tiger Vintage Boutique, a vintage clothing store in downtown Kitchener.
Now, seven years later, Campbell’s store is recognized as one of the staple vintage stores in the city, and business is only continuing to grow.
“My grandma would always take me shopping [and] thrifting, but I started getting into it more when I was in high school. I started getting more into vintage, and stopped buying new clothes, gradually. Then I just kind of started collecting,” Campbell said.
"I'm really into sustainable fashion,
that what I like to bring through to vintage shopping."
“It’s great [that new clothes] can be cheap, but it doesn’t really create value for the item. People are more likely to buy more, but not appreciate it as much, so the likelihood that you might give it away within a year, or not wear it at all — the chances are higher,” she said.
Campbell explained that she really cares about sustainable fashion and that she hopes to foster that through her store.
“For clothes to be created that quickly, there’s a lot of environmental harm in the process … so how quickly it is produced versus how quickly it takes to break down. I’m really into sustainable fashion … that’s what I like to bring through vintage shopping. I try to bring in fashionable items for people that are current and unique, as well,” she explained “You can walk into a mall shop, and there’s multiple of each size. But if you go thrifting or vintage shopping, there’s just that one, so if it actually fits you, it’s like destiny.”
But it isn’t just the thrill of destiny that fuels her passion for vintage, there’s also the sustainability factor of shopping second hand.
This interview was from The Community Edition https://communityedition.ca/clothes-were-the-days-with-white-tiger-vintage/
