Today we’d like to introduce you to Paige McKinney.
Paige, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I worked as a fashion blogger for a while to help make money while going to college and noticed other plus size folks like me were always running into an issue–there were little to no choices for alternative plus size fashion and there also was a huge lack for anything that was trendy at the time. Plus size retailers would often get trends literal years after they’d be fully gone from straight size stores. Since I had a relationship with the community, I asked folks what they felt like they were missing, and then use my skills in internet research (to find manufacturing partners and learn how to run a business) and art (to design the clothes, branding, and website) to put together a brand that would solve those problems.
Over the years Trash Queen has definitely been my art outlet, but I’m always looking for ways to serve the plus side community, with a focus on providing clothes for folks who are marginalized and artsy, who don’t often feel represented by mainstream fashion.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Trash Queen is totally independently funded, so I feel like our main struggle is always time and resources. I see so many brands 100x our size doing so much less, despite having so much more. It definitely gets frustrating at times, because so many big box retailers could be so much more successful just by listening to their audience and being open to feedback, but instead they’re always providing the community with excuses or making up reasons why they can’t do what is often the bare minimum.
I often find myself wishing that we had even a fraction of the resources they did because we could be doing so much more for our customers and for the community. My only solution to that is to just get more determined…I’m a big nose to the grindstone kind of person and often am comforted most by taking action.
As you know, we’re big fans of Trash Queen. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Trash Queen specializes in fun, unique, alternative plus size-friendly fashion. We’re definitely known for our unique designs and for being one of the few brands existing in this niche–too often other brands might be alternative but not sell plus sizes, or they sell plus sizes but the clothes are boring and all look the same. I fully believe in the power of clothes to not just transform your look, but your whole mood and the way that you interact with the world around you. The perfect outfit can be a suit of armor, something that you draw the power off that protects you from the world around you and uplifts you. So, we’re hoping to arm more people with that power, since the fashion industry has long left out anyone who doesn’t fit the perfect stick-thin model stereotype, especially when it comes to more artistic, edgy looks.
We’re also unique in that the brand puts plus-size people first when designing, and is designed/owned/operated by a plus-size person. A lot of other brands might sell plus sizes but don’t even have a single plus size person on their design teams, so they don’t understand the kind of everyday clothing concerns plus size people have. Or they decide what we want without ever speaking with us.
I’m extremely proud of us being small and independent because despite some of the limitations it has it means we’re able to make slow, thoughtful fashion. We run our clothing brand more like an art business, so we’re not operating on insane fast fashion timelines where new pieces need to be released every day or need to hit some bottom line for investors. Our success is directly tied to the community so we get to have a close relationship with our customer base, asking them for feedback and making sure we’re designing keeping them in mind.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out.
The internet is like an infinite realm of possibility, Haha. You can literally learn every skill you might need to launch a brand for free if you are a diligent researcher, and you can also identify a group of like-minded people out there who want what you’re offering using the internet as your main tool.
Too often I see young entrepreneurs’ first step being to ask how to start to creators they really admire when I think one of the most important things in being an entrepreneur is self-reliance and independence. And often the first step in starting out is just doing the thing, which is a really boring (and probably annoying) answer to receive back, but the truth.
Another thing I’d say is to not be afraid of failure–I designed one of our most popular products (our aesthetic windbreaker) with like $100 to my name and after ordering the first sample I literally called my girlfriend crying because I was afraid, I had wasted all my money at the time on something that was hideous. And that is still one of our all-time best sellers.
Sometimes if you’re an artist or a creative you’re so far in the weeds, or so emotionally close to a project, that it’s nearly impossible for you to accurately judge your own work. It’s better to finish a piece and release it out into the aether to be judged by others at that point, then you can take that feedback and apply it to your next project. I know that’s hard to swallow if you’re risk-averse (I am too!) but you’ll be often surprised at how regularly you’re your harshest critic.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://shoptrashqueen.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shoptrashqueen/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shoptrashqueen
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/shoptrashqueen
Image Credits
Sam Mallon
Alison Fullerton
Matthew McKinney
