I’m one of 42 million people worldwide who have downloaded the ‘Depop’ marketplace app. One of 42 million. What started on my phone with €20 has since grown into a purpose-led business driven by one simple goal: keep clothing in circulation and out of landfills. Since 2020, Ani Vintage has been a sustainable fashion brand dedicated to rehoming clothes in Ireland, with a focus on shining elegance and refinement onto the second-hand narrative. 

In 2025 my brand has since evolved into a space where vintage figurines and charms can live, whether they're on handmade bag charms or screenprinted onto t-shirts. Ani vintage is now a home for even the smallest trinket that brings me joy.

The magnitude of starting this brand was actually unbeknownst to me as a teenager, it was as simple as downloading a marketplace app. It’s strange to describe myself as an eco-conscious person, because growing up I truly believed everyone had the same mindset as me; Do good for the planet and those who inhabit it. Sustainability was just a new buzzword in 2016 but I began engrossing myself in climate reports and activist rallies in 2017, and It wasn’t until 2018 that I realised just how important slow-fashion was.

By 2019, I had already amassed over 40,000 followers selling second-hand clothes from my bedroom. So making it a side-hustle whilst I was in college seemed like the next logical step. The fact that I graduated into a world-wide pandemic with a chronic sleep disorder was what first caused me to rely on it for my main source of income.

Over the course of my early adult life—and to the confusion of top neurologists—my disorder has only worsened and intensified. It ultimately means I operate best when I can set my own hours, so really indulging myself on building up Ani Vintage into what It is today has given me a new lease of life. For whatever reason, I cannot get enough of what I do, even when I’m struggling to get out of bed for medical reasons; I get up and I make a difference. 

Though it causes discomfort to be reminded, the world is drowning in textile waste. 92 million tonnes of fabric end up in landfill globally each year, with numbers projected to reach 134 million by 2030. Here in Ireland, understaffed Irish charities are overwhelmed by mass production, and overseas, towers of unworn clothes are mounting in Ghana—causing an official waste crisis. By rehoming clothing just one garment at a time, Ani Vintage directly tackles this and breathes life into pre-loved fashion—saving over 5,000 unwanted pieces since 2019.

Choosing second-hand will always be the most sustainable way to buy clothes, and by buying from me you're keeping clothing circular—which gives each piece a new life and a new home. 

As a one-woman team with only a first-class honours BA in graphic design and no external funding, I’ve built Ani Vintage from my childhood bedroom to an office space in Harolds Cross. My background has allowed me to craft a powerful story that proves second-hand fashion can be luxurious and even aspirational—compelling more and more people to make ethical choices. I owe this success not only to Ireland’s growing thirst for sustainability, but also to my perseverance in transforming something my peers were doing so casually into an impactful brand.

Out of one in 42 million, I’ve seen many brands come and go within the vintage reseller community for a cohort of reasons. Still, I’ve felt with unwavering conviction that Ani Vintage is what I was put on this earth to do—and I’m not going anywhere.

-Annie