It might not attract the attention of Vogue’s Anna Wintour, but 23-year-old pop singer and up-and-coming fashion designer McKenna Camille is hell-bent on creating her own underground fashion buzz in the booming thrift store chic world.
The young designer hosted her first-ever NYFW show at a pop-up in Chelsea on Feb. 11 at the Neighbor Gallery.
In many ways, her collection of “upcycled denim” displayed at the pop-up is representative of the fast-growing secondhand market, which is projected to reach $64–$77 billion by 2024–2025, with vintage denim acting as a staple of this movement. Her unique, glitzy, and expensive fashion created a distinctive look built around denim that is attractive to a Gen-Z crowd hoping to push away from fast fashion and promote a more sustainable era.
The designer displayed 10 original pieces from her new Cherry Collection from her brand, MickyMade, displaying denim salvaged from second-hand thrift stores and turned into clothes with an earthy appeal. The majority of the pieces were upwards of $300, with a pair of denim pants marked at $600. The combination of a fully denim, vintage collection paired with handmade patchwork and design pushes Camille into the ever-growing thrift chic movement.
Needless to say, just like any big-time fashion house that drew fashionistas from around the globe during NYFW Feb. 3 to 10, she had opening night jitters before her three-hour show, not least of which was: would anybody want to turn up in person to see her fashion line.
“I was really worried, I was like ‘No one is going to come’.” However, when she woke up on the morning of the show, she was pleasantly surprised that 87 people signed up to attend.
The turnout of her show is a recognition that many in Gen Z are seeking alternatives to major fashion brands and traditional retail stores. They want to source their clothes in an environmentally friendly, yet fashionable, way.
She’s making her mark in the fashion world, but Camille is succeeding in the music world as well. The day before the opening, she released a new single, entitled “Fixing You,” which is now available to stream on all major platforms. “The song deals with being in a relationship with someone, and you make them perfect, and you teach them to open the door for you, and then they drop you,” said Camille. A significant amount of her songs are a representation of either her mental health struggles or relationship troubles, but they all have an upbeat energy to them, “I really hate sad songs,” said Camille. Her clothing, filled with bright colors and funky patterns, shares a similar vibe.
Her life is devoted to the arts. Her apartment in Chelsea also serves as a studio that she works out of, “We have my craft table, which is where I craft. We have my dinner table, which is where I craft, and then we have Jack’s desk, which is also where I craft,” said Camille.
Born and raised in Oregon, Camille was influenced by what’s known in NYC as “granola-core.” Her family rarely used paper towels, composted regularly, foraged in their backyard garden, and avoided fast fashion. Instead of participating in something that is “terrible for the planet” and “terrible for people” as Camille says, she found a love for thrifting and vintage clothing. “I haven’t purchased something new that’s not from a second-hand store except for my running shoes,” said Camille.
She first started painting on clothes in her dorm room when she was studying drama at NYU Tisch, “’I’ve always liked painting, but I don’t like canvas,” commented Camille. Her boyfriend, Jack, was lucky enough to be given the first finished piece, a denim jacket with a collage of patches and designs. On the front pocket is a cartoon flame character, the logo of Jack’s company’s brand. When people began asking Jack about his jacket, he decided to encourage Camille to expand on her creative endeavor. He helped her build a website, on which she now sells her pieces.
On the night of the show, Camille wore a full denim outfit, as well as glitter hair strands that flowed through her waist-long, wavy blonde hair. By far, the piece she was the most excited to display was her taxi-cab skirt. It displayed multiple small hand-painted classic NYC cabs lined across a textured denim-flare skirt. The crowd was filled with other designers, art-lovers, and friends of Camille. Kalita Hon, fashion designer, said that her PR team sent her to the show, “I love funky things,” said Hon. Her description of Camille’s design was, “fun, playful, whimsical, and a little farm-core.” Her favorite piece was a pair of denim jeans with three large, green olives painted along the side of the leg.
Eight models posed on a long wooden bench to display the pieces they were wearing. Unlike the stereotypical NYFW runway with six-foot, size double-zero models, this show featured regular-looking people in a warm, inviting environment. The models walked around the room to speak to the guests, rather than hiding behind curtains and glaring down a dark catwalk.
One of the models, JoJo, is also a musician. He chose to wear the garden piece, a denim jacket that featured patchwork and paintings of little strawberries and a bright dandelion. Another model, Jordan Bailey, wore the tomato vine shorts, a crowd favorite, “I like the individuality of it, I love how colorful everything is.” Bailey has been modeling in NYC and has been to a handful of budding artist fashion shows, but was amazed at the success of Camille’s first show. She categorized the pieces as “Quirky, youthful, and fun.”
One of Camille’s closest friends from college, Jacklyn van der Colff, attended the show. She works at an art gallery and studied art during her undergraduate studies, “It’s very chic-eclectic,” she commented. Her favorite piece was a jacket with leopard print cuffs and a painting of a leopard on the back, “I just think leopard is so in right now,” commented Jacklyn.
Through her designs, Camille promotes sustainability in fashion. The global secondhand market is growing three times faster than the primary apparel market, with projections suggesting it will reach up to $360 billion by 2030, and Gen Z is here for it. For artists like Camille, fast fashion is out, and going through your grandma’s closet for vintage Levi’s is in. Young designers are adding their own sparkle to thrifted clothes and causing a tidal wave of change in the fashion world.