Since the creation of his Depop shop, Ashley, 28, has amassed a following of 66,000 and just shy of 12,000 sales.
Hunts Emporia has been a Depop favourite for many as it nears almost seven years in business. With a keen interest in fashion and a love for scouting vintage Garms, Ashley sat with us to share all the details of his upcoming pop-up.
How did Hunts Emporia start?
It all started through a friend who actually did it [Depop] himself prior to me ever doing it.
I had a bit of time off from my full-time job so I went to try and help him to see if there was anything I could do.
And again it was something I really would’ve loved to do because it was something that I enjoyed.
I [then] started it on my own and from there, grew it as much as I could and got to where I am today.
How much stock do you have and where do you store it all?
I am just about to hit 3,000 pieces in my store which is quite a lot.
I store it at a storage unit in Derby and in the next six months I’ll be moving it over to Nottingham to find more of a studio to work from and potentially have people come through and try things etc. so that’s going to be the next venture for the new year.
Why do you think vintage fashion is so in?
Vintage fashion has been in for a long time
You can go back to the 90s when people were shopping for the 40s and the 50s items.
I think vintage has always been a thing as long as clothing has been a bit of a trend.
At the moment I think that vintage fashion is a cheaper alternative, and it always has been, especially in this current climate – you get so much more for your money.
Vintage clothes are much better quality now.
These clothes have lasted for 20-30 years and they could last another 20-30.
But if you buy now, you’re buying much cheaper and faster quality products that don’t last as long.
Over the last five years, I’ve realised it’s gone from just selling second-hand clothing to it being quite sustainable now, and a lot more people are doing it because of that.
Why do you think students respond to it so well?
I think it’s the factor of it being a cheaper alternative, and again it’s timeless.
With a lot of the products you see that are vintage and 80s and 90s, they’re now back in trend so you see that certain brands are re-manufacturing clothing to look like their old ones.
I think it’s a lot easier.
Another thing with the vintage style is that the fit of the vintage is so much better than it is now.
Obviously now everything is very fitted and personally, for me, that’s not great, so I like the idea of having quite a baggy boxy fit and I think that a lot of students now with fashion everything is quite baggy so again I think that goes hand-in-hand with students.
How much of your motives are based on sustainability?
Admittedly from the start [6 years ago], it was not much.
As time has gone on it has become more of an idea.
So, I’ll use recycled postage bags, I don’t put any extras into the bags, I just send the product.
I think that the more sustainable you can be, the more popular it is, especially now, with how everything is.
How did you get Depop to sponsor you?
I’ve worked with Depop for the last four years.
I’ve done loads with them.
I’ve done pop-ups in London and Manchester.
I’ve done adverts for them.
So, I’ve always been in their books as someone to use.
As I say, I’ve got a good relationship with some of the people who work for them so I can talk to them, and they’ll know that I’m willing to do what I can and I’m very loyal to Depop – I don’t sell anywhere else.
They push me as much as possible.
It’s got to this point where now they can sponsor us for pop-ups and be able to do our own thing where we can organise it ourselves.
Do you keep a lot of the stuff you buy?
Yes. Haha. That is one of the problems that I have with it. I keep a lot
I have two separate wardrobes – one full of just coats and then another full of t-shirts, shirts, etc.
I love it because I love clothes.
I have this rule to myself that if I get a new piece, I will swap it out for something that I don’t wear anymore and I regret it a lot of times but if I stick to that rule and continue to keep the stock levels as frequent as I’m keeping them then I’m still doing my bit.
Where do you get your stock from?
I get it from quite a variety of places.
There are a few. The Midlands is quite good for it because there are a lot of rag houses – the port of call before everything goes to charity shops.
There’s a variety of people who deal with it, so I’ve got stock in Nottingham, Leicester, and Birmingham.
As a country, as a culture, we’re very branded and that’s shown from the 80s and 90s.
You can see that we love our brands which are still filtering through.
You can get people that are holding onto things and then they’ll throw them out and that’s like gold to me.
What are you doing in Nottingham?
I run the business from Derby but because I work on my own all the time with it, it gets very boring and socially it’s just not great.
I’m a very social person so I’ve always done something else.
So, I have a part-time job at Dr. Martens.
I’m pretty much almost always here [Nottingham] now.
I do operate my business from Derby, but I will be moving. I’m going to build myself in Nottingham for the time being.
What’s the goal? Where do you wish to see yourself in three years?
To have a studio, have quite a big space that I can operate from and do stuff like photography from inside the studio and more pop-ups.
I do just want to continue the pop-ups. They are great for every now and then.
I don’t want to have a shop because it doesn’t appeal to me.
The current climate just sees everyone shopping online so with the business raise in rent I don’t think I would want to have a shop.
I want to stay in Nottingham and continue everything here.
I feel like it’s got a great hub, great people, great community, it’s got everything you need, and I can build more here.
If I feel like I can go somewhere else with it then I can venture into another city but I’m really happy with where everything is at the moment.
I just want to continue growing the stock levels as much as in the long run that will make more money and gradually build more for myself.
Lastly, where can people find you?
You can find me on Instagram @hunts.emporia but it’s more of a personal Instagram.
It’s a mixture of business as well but mainly you’ll find me on Depop which is @huntsemporia.
Ashley is running an event sponsored by Depop on Saturday, December 3.
The event details can be found on his Instagram and within the images in this article.
Happy shopping x
Lead Image Credit: Hunt’s Emporia Business Card. Illustration by @slippy.world