Based in: Philadelphia, PA, USA

Founded in: 2020, brick & mortar opened in 2022

Founded by: Bethany Hartzell Hugghins

Stores: Physical store at 6622 Germantown Ave, Philadelphia Pa 19119, shipping worldwide through Instagram or etsy

Price range: $5-$500

Instagram: @paxfloragoods

Hi Pax Flora Goods, welcome to A Sustainable Closet! We are so curious to know how you came up with the concept and idea for your store, what's the story?

Thanks so much for having me! While I’ve been a thrifter, vintage lover and collector since high school, Pax Flora Goods was born during the pandemic, while I was home with my three small children. Early motherhood is a strange and beautiful gift, but it can also send you into a bit of an identity crisis, at least it did me. I started really playing dress-up again as a way to remind myself of my identity outside of motherhood. I’ve been wearing a wardrobe of exclusively vintage, thrifted or the rare slow fashion piece for over a decade and I always thought it would be fun to source for a larger audience. An opportunity came up to become a vintage clothing vendor at a local vintage mercantile and I jumped on it. My side hustle grew from there and I realized sourcing and selling vintage clothing and jewellery fueled my creativity, my commitment to sustainability, and ethical consumption and my desire to have a flexible part-time job while being mama to my littles. The name Pax Flora Goods is a homage to my kids because honestly I never would have opened the store if I hadn't unexpectedly found myself as an at-home mom with three little bear cubs. I opened the doors to my brick & mortar, just around the corner from my house, on Small Business Saturday and we offer vintage and antique clothing and jewellery, as well as a selection of ethically-made or locally-made pieces for home and body.

Your pre-loved selection is stunning and every piece seems to have been carefully picked, how and where do you source the gems?

Thank you so much! And the short answer is everywhere. I’ve been a thrifter for decades, but I also source from estate sales, auctions, flea markets, church rummage sales, yard sales, you name it. I’ve been fortunate since I opened the shop, that sometimes folks will reach out to me if they are downsizing or just have great pieces they’re ready to part with. I’ve also built some great relationships with fellow textile lovers in the neighbourhood who are decades older than me and sometimes I’ll purchase special pieces with great history from them as well! (like a stunning block print dress that my older friend wore to Woodstock in ‘69!)

What type of garment is selling the best?

Dresses and antique jewellery are my top sellers.

Where on the planet are your customers based?

Mostly in person in Philadelphia, but I send jewellery and garments all over! Often Brooklyn & California, but I’ve also sent several pieces to Kansas, Texas, and Norway to name a few!

Where do you find inspiration?

Goodness, I find inspiration everywhere. I just love the personal style and seeing people play dress up and have fun expressing themselves and putting together an outfit, so I’m very inspired by street style. I also follow a number of vintage and slow fashion “influencers” I guess you could say, who certainly inspired me. (ie. @Dronme, @bjonesstyle, @thevintageepicurian and @avintagesplendor) And, I do love couture and follow the runway shows, (and read Vogue religiously) but honestly it’s often the street style outside of fashion week that inspires me most!

What have been and are the major challenges of starting Pax Flora Goods and may we ask if this is your full-time job?

As a mama of three, the biggest challenge is scheduling and making sure I’m prioritizing my family, even as I focus on growing my business. This is my full-time job and I’m the only employee. My husband has stepped up A LOT this year to make this dream possible. I’m currently only open Wednesday-Saturday, but I source, launder and mend the other days. There is a lot of behind-the-scenes labour in running a vintage shop! I know I may be leaving money on the table by being closed on Sundays, but I really need a weekend day with my kids and I’m determined to not burn out because I want to be doing this gig for a long time! I always want to enjoy it and I don’t want to get to the place where I resent how much it requires, if that makes sense.

What have been and are the largest gains?

The largest gain has been building a beautiful community and seeing myself live into a dream and get to see that dream really flourish in a meaningful way. The online community of fellow sellers that I’ve met is truly special and then the face-to-face community connections I get to build through the brick&mortar shop are just an immeasurable gift. I’m a very community-oriented person and my goal for the store was to create a place where everyone feels welcome and belongs and I feel like that is really materializing and honestly, that’s everything! I love curating a space and getting to assist folks in finding unique pieces they really love that look amazing on them!

What do you think needs to change in the fashion industry to make it more sustainable?

Wow, so much needs a change. The Fashion industry is the 3rd largest polluting industry (after food and construction) and it produces about 10 percent of annual global carbon emissions, which is more than all maritime shipping and international flights combined and its greenhouse gases are projected to grow by more than 50 percent by 2030. The human toll of fast fashion is immense. Garment workers are often forced to work in unsafe conditions, with subsistence wages and no job security or protection and the majority of garment workers are women of colour.

While, as a society we need to unlearn our seemingly insatiable desire for more and new, individual shopping changes aren’t enough to shift this behemoth, we need systemic changes. We need to hold the industry accountable for its ecological impact and make sure corporations are doing right by their workers. We need to support the PayUp campaign and tell our friends to as well. I’ll tag some great educators and accounts to follow to learn more about the realities of the fashion industry and how we can plug into making it more sustainable and ethical!

The hopeful side is that more and more folks are excited about thrifting, outfit-repeating, renting clothes, wearing vintage, mending and making garments. I hope to see that grow from gen z street style to those with positions of great power and influence. There has definitely been a shift to talk more candidly about all that ethical fashion encompasses and I want to be a part of helping that grow! Our purchase has power and our voices have power- so I’d love to see more of us consistently shop our values & use our voices to demand better from corporations & government.

@slowdashion.movement

@thesustainablefashionforum

What's up next, do you have anything fun to share with our readers?

Hmm, I really hope to finally set up a shopable website in the coming months, so I’ll definitely let folks know when that launches!