Devin Banes, the founder of Bane Thrift — a predominantly online-based vintage clothing shop — has always admired fashion, specifically from a musical and sports entertainment perspective. An example of this is his interest in ’90s wrestling attire. After being largely influenced by fashion through these outlets, he began his own collection of clothes from these genres.
Much like his brother — who would collect apparel but also sell it — Banes decided to give it a try himself. As a result, Bane Thrift was born and Bane’s pieces can be found on his eBay site and Instagram.
303 Magazine: Tell us about your background in fashion and how you gained an interest in the industry.
Devin Banes: I’ve always admired vintage fashion because of my older brother, Dustin, [who] has been selling and collecting vintage fashion for over three years now. So, I’ve always had respect for it, but I didn’t really start selling and collecting vintage until recently. I’ve always been super into music, being a bit of a musician myself. And, I’ve always been a huge fan of sports entertainment, especially ’90s wrestling. So basically, one day I decided I wanted to start a collection. Eventually, my habit of collecting lead to a full-time job for me and I haven’t looked back.
303: What influenced you to actually start a business within fashion? Can you give us some background on how you went about starting Bane Thrift?
DB: My brother was my main inspiration, I would just see not only how much money he was making doing it, but also seeing how much fun he was having. Building his own personal collection made it near impossible for me to resist. I would have to credit him with teaching me everything I know about vintage, and also for helping me get to where I can make a full-time living just selling clothing.
Bane Thrift started with just an Instagram account just trying to promote my online sales, but eventually, I started getting bigger. Once I had enough eyes on me, I decided I would try out some pop-up events and I absolutely fell in love with the aspect of it all. Just something about a big area filled with vintage fashion, bringing all these people together seemed so cool to me. I’d say that’s when things really started to take off for me.
303: Can you describe Bane Thrift and its style?
DB: I sell vintage clothing. If you are into old school pop culture and you look through my page or come to one of my pop up events, I guarantee you can find something you love. I sell a wide variety of items from graphic tees to high-quality vintage denim and even hats and other accessories. I also try to provide a variety of price ranges on my items. I have items as cheap as $5 and other as expensive as $300+. It just depends.
303: How do you go about finding items you want to eventually sell?
DB: In my business, finding good clothing is all about being in the right place at the right time. It’s about 90% luck I’d say. Obviously, you have to know what you are looking for but most of the time I feel like things just find their way to me. I try to hit as many spots as I can when thrifting because you never know what you can find at your local thrift shop. Sometimes it can be frustrating when you go home empty-handed, but it makes up for it fully when you do find something that you know for a fact is really good.
I pride myself on my customer services. I always try to be reasonable when it comes
303: What does the future look like for Bane Thrift?
DB: Eventually I hope to have an actual store to sell my vintage out of. I want to also continue with the pop-ups and selling online but to own a store and be able to commit most of my time to is the ultimate goal for me right now.
All photography by Adrienne Thomas.