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One of the highlights of the pandemic for Sheryl Roberts was seeing her clothing being worn by an actor on FX’s groundbreaking show Pose about the 1980s ballroom scene in New York.
“My clothing is on my favorite show!” Roberts posted to Instagram on May 10. “I am literally crying tears of happiness!”
Roberts, who made a career change in 2017 to start a vintage clothing line called IndigoStyle Vintage after 30 years as a fashion model, introduced new revenue streams since the Covid-19 crisis struck her business hard in early 2020.
Selling vintage clothing she curates to film and television shows is just one new source of income Roberts discovered in the past year when she was forced to rethink everything she’d built.
In 2017, she started IndigoStyle Vintage in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn, which sells curated vintage apparel, as well as new merchandise such as soaps, T-shirts and jewellery, the bulk of which is from non-white artisans.
For two years, she operated as a vendor within someone else’s home decor store before opening her own in June 2019 — never imagining what was around the corner for retailers, many of which had to temporarily close during the start of the pandemic.
After a strong start, Roberts realised things were not looking good and turned her attention to building an online presence with a website and through social media.
Last summer Roberts began livestreaming clothes for sale on social media, a move she dubs the “QVC of Instagram”, a reference to the American home-shopping network. Every Sunday, Roberts goes live on Instagram and talks through several vintage items from her store, details their features and measurements and answers questions while customers bid to buy the pieces.
Live sales helped IndigoStyle Vintage’s bottom line, Roberts says, and it’s something she’ll continue to do post-pandemic. She also started giving virtual styling sessions and offering customers the opportunity to have her visit their homes, dig through their closets and choose outfits that work well for them.
No matter how shoppers prefer to interact with IndigoStyle, Roberts says she enjoys the customised service she can bring.
“I encourage customers to play here,” she says, “play with shapes, play with colours.”
One thing that hasn’t changed is Roberts’ candour with customers. “If something doesn’t fit right, I’ll tell you. I guarantee if you go to Macy’s, the associate will tell you, ‘Oh yeah, that looks great. You should buy it,’ but I’ll tell you if something is ill-fitting and we can find something that works better.”
“I want customers to leave here with pieces that they look in their closet and it brings them joy,” Roberts says. “I want them to get compliments when they’re walking down the street, because it will make them feel good about themselves.”
This is the seventh article in a series for the blog that explores the effects of the pandemic on people and businesses around the world