Meet Megan Rogerson and Emily Rinehardt | Emily Rinehardt & Megan Rogerson | Co-Founders of Salvage Apparel Co.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Megan Rogerson and Emily Rinehardt and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Emily and Megan, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
We are best friends and alumni of Kent State University’s Fashion School. We are passionate about sustainable fashion and wanted to find a way to prevent clothes from entering landfill. There is no doubt that the textile waste created by the fashion industry is drastically contributing to climate change. We started our small business as a way extend the life cycle of secondhand clothing through sustainable redesign and resale, ultimately helping reduce textile waste. Our goal is to banish the stigma that secondhand clothing is lower quality & less fashionable.

What should our readers know about your business?
Our assortment consists of mens and womens upcycled and pre-loved pieces. We love designing anything from patchwork dresses to reworking items into matching sets. Our upcycled designs are made from a combination of deadstock, vintage, and repurposed fabrics. We aim to make every piece feel one-of-a-kind and fashion forward to help end the stigma around secondhand goods. In June of 2022 we showed a collection at a fashion show in Cleveland, Ohio. We were so proud to see secondhand textiles and fabric scraps that would have been discarded receive an extended and new life for an elevated runway experience.

We launched our small business in August of 2020, right in the middle of the pandemic. Just like many other businesses, we faced lots of challenges like not being able to sell at local vendors markets and not being able attend in-person networking events. We overcame this by focusing our efforts on growing our e-commerce website and digital presence. We connected and built relationships with other small businesses and shoppers through Instagram. We have learned to never give up and find a way, even when the circumstances may be challenging.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
We have so much gratitude for our friend and photographer, Sam Gugliemotto. We cannot thank him enough for his support at our many photoshoots. His talent helps bring our brand vision to life.

Website: www.salvageapparelco.com

Instagram: @salvageapparelco

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/salvageapparelco

Image Credits
Sam Gugliemotto