During Resource Depot’s fifth annual REfashion Weekend earlier this month, shoppers browsed through racks of donated women’s clothes, filling their bags and restyling their closets with style and sustainability in mind.
Resource Depot, located on Florida Avenue near downtown West Palm Beach, is a nonprofit creative reuse center that collects donated creative supplies and unique items then redistributes them to the community for artistic and educational projects.
The center offers two main shopping experiences.
In the Materials Marketplace, visitors can “shop-by-the-bin,” filling a $5 small bin or $10 large bin with any donated treasures they find, while the TreasuRE Boutique offers shoppers unique, pre-packaged and locally made items.
“Not only are we keeping them out of the waste stream, but most importantly, we’re fueling creativity in the community and we’re providing these materials at a fraction of retail value,” said Jennifer O’Brien, the executive director of Resource Depot.
Resource Depot is centered on promoting behavior change and sustainability in creativity. They regularly receive donations of reusable materials that total hundreds of thousands of pounds each year.
Catering to the community, especially local artists, students and educators, their mission is to turn “waste into wonder” and keep materials that could have creative value out of landfills.
Though not everyone may need arts and crafts supplies.
But clothes resonate with everyone, O’Brien said.
So for a weekend each year, Resource Depot dives into pre-loved fashion.
“It’s our biggest fundraiser of the year,” Chelsea Passauer, Resource Depot’s program coordinator, said. “It shifts us a little from what we usually do to something that is also equally important, which is thrifting our clothes.”
During REfashion Weekend, the art supplies and creative novelties are nudged aside and replaced with racks and shelves of gently used women’s clothing, accessories and shoes for a three-day sustainable shopping spree.
The event kick-started on Friday with an early access VIP experience and continued with morning and afternoon sessions on Saturday, allowing shoppers to rediscover sustainable styles with deals and discounts.
The event wrapped up with Fashion by the Pound Monday, a new addition to REfashion Weekend, where shoppers pay $2 per pound.
“It’s just another way to get people who may have a lower budget be able to participate in the programming and with the fundraising, which I think is a wonderful way to get our whole community involved,” Passauer said.
The remaining items are picked up by Resource Depot’s charity partners after the event.
“It would be a good problem to have if we didn’t have enough donations because it means people are holding onto their clothes a little longer,” O’Brien said.
The first-floor GalleRE space, which normally exhibits local creative reuse art, was transformed into an eco-friendly boutique with some individually priced and designer pieces.
Others were priced by category with formal dresses, casual dresses, suits, matching sets, jackets, bathing suits, shorts, denim, blouses and more, all organized on racks with discounts.
Jewelry and accessories, from pearl necklaces and brooches to pieces made from reusable materials, were marked with colored stickers indicating prices from $2 to $10.
There was also a section with shoes, hats and bags.
Upstairs, which is typically used for workshops and field trips, the Fill-A-Bag experience took over.
Shoppers were handed a tote bag, as part of their entry ticket, to fill with any treasures they found upstairs.
There were shelves with folded shorts, plain shirts, bathing suits, denim and more, clearly labeled by size and type. There were also hangers with graphic tees, long-sleeve shirts, blouses, dresses, button-ups and more, some hung by color.
Olivia Shand, a Palm Beach State College student who exclusively shops second-hand, sifted through a rack of jeans with her tote bag half full, not looking for anything in particular.
But that was the magic of it.
“I love it,” Shand said, grinning. “It’s the rush of finding something new and you can find good designer things if you take the time to look.”
Shand compared clothes to heirlooms, emphasizing the importance of not wasting anything.
Yendry Alvor, a fashion designer, also enjoyed the Fill-A-Bag section and thinks it should expand.
Alvor found a vintage suit she plans to redesign and a fur coat and intends to return next year with her daughter.
“I think things need to be repurposed,” Alvor said in the jewelry section. “There’s a lot of fashion that we’re not getting anymore, like good materials and tailoring, so it’s exciting to find it here.”
REfashion Weekend is expanding each year.
About 200 shoppers attended and Resource Depot collected about 4,000 pounds of clothing with a goal to raise about $40,000.
The proceeds go to Resource Depot’s community outreach programs and O’Brien hopes they can make young people see that second-hand is okay and erase the taboo surrounding it.
O’Brien believes that with the current state of the world, people are starting to reflect on their habits and consumerism and by attending fun community gatherings like REfashion Weekend, they’re already making positive, sustainable choices for the planet even if they don’t know it.
“Being sustainable can be stylish,” O’Brien said.
