In a predominantly female industry, one new online vintage store sells exclusively to men. It’s called Barstad Collective, an online shop that provides men with a curated selection of vintage goods.
Until the opening of Barstad Collective last March, vintage online retail for men wasn’t very common. The brand embraces individualism, selling items that are hand-selected and can’t be found anywhere else. Barstad Collective’s owners prides themselves on giving every man the opportunity to set himself apart from others when it comes to fashion.
Metcalf came up with the idea for the company while shopping online.
“I was online, searching for men’s vintage clothing and I could not find a website where I could find a solid selection of fashionably relevant vintage menswear,” Metcalf said. So he considered this market an opportunity. “I know there are guys like me who don’t like always wearing clothes from major menswear brands.”
Metcalf began buying clothes and other goods and seeing how they sold on eBay.
The name Barstad came from Metcalf’s middle name and his mother’s maiden name. The idea of the “collective” is that all of these one-of-a-kind items fall under the same brand umbrella — they’re apart of a collection of curated items.
Barstad Collective is currently composed of three people: Odenborg, Metcalf and Ian Murphy. Metcalf is responsible for the majority of the buying and oversees everything. Odenborg handles the creative direction, brand management and marketing. Murphy is in charge of handling finances and web analytics.
“We wanted to create an image all about the ‘American man,’” Odenborg said. “This man is someone who is comfortable with who he is.”
Metcalf does most of his buying locally in Oregon and California but makes purchases from all over the country.
The company pioneers a membership rental program where customers can select from three packages that will then be shipped to them monthly. Each package contains a number of shirts, jackets and accessories.
“You don’t necessarily pick out each item, they are hand selected for you, so you may end up getting something that you would never pick out but actually really like,” Odenborg said.
The company has been successful thus far, though the team believes there is a lot of room for growth.
“People are buying our product which means we are doing something that fills a need in the market,” Odenborg said. The company uses Nasty Gal as a business model. “Nasty Gal began in a similar way as a women’s vintage find on eBay and grew within a few years and is now in Forbes.”
In the next year the company hopes to expand to Asian markets. They currently have a Taiwanese brand ambassador that is helping market the brand overseas. They also hope to continue to gain popularity specifically through menswear blogs and by creating brand awareness around campus.
UO junior Sam Miller said he is curious about the brand.
“I haven’t heard of Barstad Collective, but that is definitely something I would check out.”
Follow Mackenzie Lamberton on twitter @macklamberton