American Rag Upcycles with Local Designers; Plans to Launch Vintage Wholesale

A new collaboration brings a fresh perspective to American Rag’s vintage archive—seven fresh perspectives to be exact.

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The renowned Los Angeles retailer is teaming up with L.A.-based trend forecasting and consultancy experts, Denim Dudes, to launch Nothing New, a retail initiative that highlights emerging local designers and explores the creative potential of upcycling vintage and deadstock.

Leveraging Denim Dudes’ expertise in discovering new talent, Nothing New offers seven local brands access to American Rag’s extensive archive of over 2 million vintage garments, providing designers both inspiration and key pieces to build capsule collections. Participating brands include Object from Nothing, Knorts , Dr Iceland, Denem, Masato Kawajo, N.G.O and Clutch Golf.

Each designer will produce a 20-piece capsule collection to be sold exclusively through American Rag’s online and brick-and-mortar store. The collection will launch on Sept. 19 with an in-store event.

The project is a reminder how the most sustainable garment is one that already exists. “There are so many clothes already out there. There’s statistics that show there’s enough clothes on the planet that can supply our next six generations, so why make something new,” said Amanda Shi-Werts, American Rag partner.

The seven designers selected by Denim Dudes’ founder Amy Leverton and trend forecaster Shannon Reddy visited the warehouse in July to make their selection of a total of 140 vintage pieces. Many chose denim laundry bags and denim aprons, for their worn-in washes and blank canvas. Others chose jersey tees and hoodies to upcycle into new creations.

“People are definitely tapping into the military surplus side of things as well,” Reddy said. “Everyone has a bit of a different aesthetic, so we just wanted them to lean into what they do best. They have free range.”

Entrenched in L.A.’s vintage and remake scenes, Nothing New brings a physical element to Denim Dudes’ online efforts to foster community and creativity and to promote emerging talent. Leverton described the partnership with American Rag as an “opportunity to showcase some of the incredible talent we share online in a more tangible way and forge a deeper connection with our local denim community in the process.”

“Since my first trip to Los Angeles in 2011 I’ve been coming to American Rag religiously to visit the denim bar, discover new brands and shop. To be given the opportunity to showcase the next generation of talent from this incredible city and inspire today’s customers is an honor and a privilege,” Leverton said.

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Shi-Werts and Reddy said they’re having conversations about a second edition of Nothing New that will focus on festival fashion ahead of Coachella 2025.

Nothing New also signals the start of a new business venture for American Rag: vintage wholesale. For the first time this fall, the retailer will make its vintage archive amassed over 40 years open to other brands and retailers. “Our vintage sales have increased so much in the store, but 2 million pieces is a lot for one store. It would take hundreds of years to sell through it,” Shi-Werts said.

Over the years, American Rag’s vintage warehouse has been a source of inspiration for vendors and the design teams from Ralph Lauren and Marc Jacobs. “They all used to come, but it was never opened to public,” she said.

The quantity of quality vintage garments in the warehouse is what struck Reddy. “We’ve been to so many different vintage warehouses and rag houses. And I’ve never seen anything that just the quality of vintage garments is unmatched to anything that I’ve seen in L.A. before,” she said, adding that the venture speaks to the changing landscape of vintage dealers and vintage markets, in general.

“It’s exciting that the public now has access to [American Rag’s warehouse], because we’re seeing the struggle that some vintage dealers have finding quality garments. They’re going to most rag houses or vintage warehouses and they’re full of fast fashion—and that’s not the case at the American Rag,” Reddy said. “Just the breadth and depth of specific styles is incredible, like the military surplus, the ’70s terry cloth shirts…it’s so niche and specific but there’s so much quantity of this incredible stuff.”

The trajectory of American Rag’s business has shifted significantly since the pandemic. “We faced two challenging years as we navigated the shift to online shopping and changing consumer habits,” Werts explained, adding that the company invested heavily in making e-commerce successful.

Interestingly, part of the answer was already in their warehouse. “Before covid, our men’s and women’s collections were our top sellers. Now, vintage is leading our sales,” she said.

The surge in vintage popularity is largely driven by Gen Z . “We’re seeing younger and younger customers coming into our store. It’s exciting because I think they’re moving away from fast fashion, which often makes everyone look the same,” she added.

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