A few years ago, a young college student named Samantha Elias was figuring something out. “Everywhere I went, I got stopped. Hands on shoulders, in the middle of New York City, where did you get that?” Elias recalls that this happened seven to eight times on any given day.

Elias began to literally sell the clothes out of her closet. She held some of her first trunk shows in her home in New York, setting up racks of her clothes to sell. “It was a sign that people were tired of the mass-marketed, mass-produced [clothes], at Urban Outfitters, Forever 21, [and] H&M.”

She began to realize that this hobby was growing into a career. People wanted the unique, quality clothing at a good price. The Vintage Twin (TVT) was born. Elias initially had a store on 617 E. University, which was a quarter the size of her current store on S. University.

She enrolled at the University of Michigan School of Business and is currently going back and forth between her store in Ann Arbor and her home in New York. “My advice [to high school students] would be to get started,” said Elias. “You know, sell clothes out of your closet, whatever you’re doing, everyone starts somewhere.”

Elias continued by giving the inspiring and stunningly similar example of Tommy Hilfiger, a successful clothing company recently sold for 1.6 billion dollars. “Tommy Hilfiger’s started on [the University of] Ithaca’s campus,” said Elias, after relaying a story about her aunt going into his store on the campus in the late 1980’s. “1.6 billion dollars.” Her eyes seem to light up as she relays this again, as if she’s seeing her own store, worth billions of dollars right before her eyes.

Elias’s vision for the store is impressive; she’s created a very personal shopping experience for her customers. Each person who walks up the old, wooden stairs leading up to the store overlooking north campus is greeted with a smile and a friendly hello. She explains that people of all ages and backgrounds come to her store. From a college girl laughing with their friends as they try on slinky dresses, to an elegant, older woman purchasing a beautiful altered wrap dress that she chose earlier that day.

Elias’s vision for the store is inspiring, and the business she’s created is beyond impressive. But, her ideas are still continuing to be refined and developed, and her store is continually improving.

Visit The Vintage Twin on the North U of M campus on 1112 S. University. Visit The Vintage Twin website at thevintagetwin.com (currently under construction).