OnBeatVintage Takes Denver By Storm With Rare And Sustainable Pieces

OnBeatVintage is a sustainable Denver-based brand, solely presented through her online website. Owner Lydia Peacock is turning heads with her high-quality, rare pieces.

Building a Fashionable Wardrobe From An Early Age

Peacock grew up mainly in New Hampshire. She was an only child and spent the majority of her childhood traveling the world with her parents and visiting their families in New Zealand and Australia.

Both of her parents were artists. As a result, “my house growing up was in a constant state of creation. Almost like a curated museum. The home I grew up in was filled with treasures from around the world,” Peacock said.

From all of her parents’ travels, they met many friends from around the world. Whenever friends came to visit, they would bring Peacock outfits from their homes. Eventually, “my closet was filled with inspiring pieces from a young age,” she said.

Peacock often made her clothes growing up. Now, she curates vintage and antique goods to restore and sell. She also still designs and creates pieces made of wool.

Peacock was surrounded by creativity throughout her life. Her parents were very creative people, and always created things for their home and themselves. Her father is a jeweler and metalsmith who designs and creates fine jewelry. “Both my parents had their studios at our house growing up, so I was always surrounded by their art,” she said.

All of Peacock’s experiences in her childhood impacted her view on fashion because she was surrounded by so many different cultures and creatives from a young age.

“I was always a creative and expressive child, and my clothing and view on fashion have always been different than those around me. My travel experiences were fundamental parts of me growing up and showed me the beauty of different cultures … My parents and their community showed me that anything can be art, especially clothing,” she said.

The Creation of OnBeatVintage

Peacock has always loved clothes; therefore, she views fashion as a form of expression and art. She knew at a young age she always wanted to immerse herself into the fashion world.

When Peacock was given many hand-me-downs in her childhood years, she felt embarrassed wearing them, but as she grew up she realized how amazing it is to thrift clothes and own second-hand clothing. “I turned something that I used to be embarrassed about into a business,” she said.

Prior to founding OnBeatVintage, Peacock worked at a surf shop called Summer Sessions for seven years where she eventually worked in a management position. “It showed me the beauty and hardships of owning a small business and inspired my dream of owning a collective space,” she said.

OnBeatVintage was born during the pandemic. Peacock realized how inaccessible vintage clothing usually is – it is a huge industry and is usually very expensive. Peacock wanted to create OnBeatVintage so shoppers have options they can afford and love just the same, if not more.

Peacock realized she was thrift shopping a lot right before the pandemic started, so she started reselling with Depop. In the first few weeks of posting all of her thrifting finds on Depop, she had sold out. “This validated for me that my personal style was liked by others. I started reaching out to local markets in the Denver area,” she said.

The tattoo shop and collective space, MADÉ Tattoo & Mercantile created by Chloe Besson, took her inventory of thrifted and second-hand clothing and Peacock sold almost all of her pieces.

Since then she has attended markets and events in Denver and created a Boulder-based retail shopping location in LOVE SARO. She is now rebranding her website for OnBeatVintage, “It has been so much work, but one of the most rewarding experiences of my life!” she said.

The Importance of Sustainability for OnBeatVintage

Peacock is passionate about creating less stress on the environment with her vintage company. Since the fashion industry is a huge contributor to the conditions of global warming and overconsumption of clothing, Peacock wanted to create a brand that has second-hand clothing, so it will lower the impact on the environment.

She packages all her online orders in compostable packaging and if she finds clothing she wants on her website, but if they are imperfect, she will repurpose pieces to give them life.

The Style of OnBeatVintage

Peacock believes in high-quality fabrics for her shop. When adding to her shop she will mainly choose silk, linen, cotton, wool and leather, “I choose items that are high-quality and reflect that in the way they are made,” she said.

The style of OnBeatVintage is a combination of many eras over the decades. Peacock loves to choose many different and unique pieces of clothing that she personally loves. The main way to categorize her clothing is by color. OnBeatVintage features neutrals and colors as Peacock is equally drawn to both. Her goal is to offer something for everyone.

“It is a fundamental value of OnBeatVintage to have something for everybody … I want everyone, regardless of identity to be able to find something they’ll love from me. Clothes are genderless, and it is important to me that everyone feels welcome to express themselves through my finds,” she said.

OnBeatVintage doesn’t only sell clothes – Peacock offers home decor pieces as well. The style of her home decor is based on a midcentury-modern aesthetic. She also sells vintage wool blankets and handmade dehydrated orange slice earrings, which she makes herself.

The Future of OnBeatVintage

Peacock is currently rebranding, and new items will be released on her website in 2022. She wants to keep her online store up so customers outside of Colorado can to shop her collections online.

OnBeatVintage is not done growing yet. While for the time being Peacock has a partnership with Love Saro, soon she will be opening up a location in Denver where customers can shop all of OnBeatVintage.

“My partnership with LOVE SARO is a huge part of the future of OBV. We will be hosting events up at our studio in Boulder, and [we] are working on a mobile boutique that we can bring to festivals/weddings/parties/events, etc.,” Peacock said.

In addition to selling sustainable clothing, she offers personal styling and personal shopping services. She is determined to expand that business as well, in this next year.

“There are so many moving parts and pieces that come with owning a small business — but I trust that OnBeatVintage has what it takes to bring it to the next level,” she said.

All photography by Cesar Paredes.

Updated on January 17, 2022