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Emilia Harker
Emilia Harker is the founder of BAX & THISTLE, her vintage clothing and streetwear e-commerce store. Alongside her partner, who runs the logistics side of the business, Emilia acts as the creative and visionary, whilst also doubling as the brand’s photographer, and shoot manager on set. WOTC catches up with the multi-talented entrepreneur, as she talks about the ins and outs of the business, and how she feeds back into sustainable fashion.
BAX & THISTLE
WOTC: Who is the BAX & THISTLE customer?
Emilia: We have such a wide range. It can be 14 or 15-year-olds who message us and say, “I've been looking at this for ages and you still have it. I’ve been saving for it and I will finally have enough by Friday, can you save this piece for me?” And I really respect that so I say yes. Then, you also have professionals who will just buy three high-end items at a time.
WOTC: And how does it work?
BAX & THISTLE
Emilia: We have some wholesalers that we go to, but the really rare pieces, like the Fendi Monogram coats, we source individually from different people. We do also have people that approach us saying “I’ve got this, can you sell it for me,” so we offer that service as well.
WOTC: Who can customers contact to do this?
Emilia: They can just send us a message, whether it’s on Instagram or through the website. Then, all they need to do is send us pictures so that we can make sure that it's legit and take a look at any defects. If they want more for it, I would always advise that they send it to us, because the photo shoots that we do, it presents the item better and then they've got more of a chance of selling it. If customers just want a quick sale, we work our photoshoot magic.
WOTC: How did the business start?
Emilia: My partner was at university in Sheffield, and he bought some Barbour jackets from the vintage market, and they were pretty battered and broken. He brought them back to me at my parents house, and we repurposed them. So we re-waxed them in my mum’s kitchen and broke her hair dryer, hence our brand name, and that's how we started together.
So we did the Barbour jacket and I thought it was cool, but I wanted us to branch out into more current styles, like Supreme. We started looking at how we could get some pieces, even if it was the old season - We just wanted to make it look different. Then we went into sportswear.
WOTC: Amazing! And tell us about the team that work with you to make this all happen?
Emilia: Yes, it's myself and my partner - so he is all about the logistics. He’s more the numbers guy and deals with the day to day of “this is what we do.” I'm more of the creative, the marketer, the visionary and the voice of it. So, yes, we do this together. I'm also the lead photographer and I manage the shoots.
We have in-house models that we use and we're actually trying to develop them as models ourselves and get them other work, because they are just amazing. We also have our videographer Ollie.
WOTC: And we understand that BAX & THISTLE are also opening studios. Tell us more!
Emilia: We have just gotten the release sorted and we’re going to be renovating an old pottery factory which we’re going to turn into a studio space. It will be two-stories and we want to be able to soundproof it, and perhaps have it as a music space as well.
We're going to offer local businesses discounted rates to use it, because Stoke-On-Trent is actually a creative county, and I think a lot of people forget that. We just want it to become a local hub for everyone.
WOTC: We love that, and what does the tiger symbolise?
Emilia: We went through a massive rebrand in 2019 and there was something fearless about tigers, so after doing research we found that the brain of a tiger was bigger than a lion. So we were like, “OK, we can do this.” We just thought, you have to be bigger and better! So you think that the lion is the king of the jungle, but actually it's not. You’ve got to think outside the box. You’ve got to be bolder.
We also have a cause where any of our customers who donate to the WWF receive a 50 percent off discount code to shop with us.
BAX & THISTLE
Shop the Bax & Thistle collection now at www.baxandthistle.com