Our Startup Story: How it All Started

The year 2020 will go down in history through many different lenses, but it definitely marked a “before & after” for all of us.

In my case, it was the beginning of something bigger than myself. I became more aware and conscious of the impact that we have on each other’s lives. And this led me through an incredible journey which I’m happy and humbled to be walking now.

During quarantine, after cleaning out my closet, I started doing research about where to take the clothes I took out to donate (I moved to the US only a couple of years ago, so this was my first time) and quickly discovered that even donated garments might end up in a landfill. I decided to give them to a very specific foundation. I was so impacted by what I was learning that I kept investigating the fashion industry and the environmental impact that it has under our current consumption system: take-make-dispose.

When I found out that it takes 700 gallons of water to produce a new t-shirt and that over 60% of the new clothes manufactured for the US alone end up in a landfill every year, I wanted to do something about it.

I learned that buying second-hand clothes extends the life cycle of the garments, hopefully reducing the need for so many new items and natural resources. Also, I was very happy to find out that many brands are being built around the sustainable concept.

I discovered that the second-hand clothing market is exciting and huge! Not to mention filled with unique finds, many are even new with tags (pro-tip: second-hand only means pre-owned, not necessarily pre-worn). I was fascinated by the idea.

The next time I needed to buy clothes, I decided to look online for pre-loved options. Good news: there are many different marketplaces and sites to buy from. Not so good news: you have so many items to choose from and browse, you can end up being overwhelmed as I did, eventually giving up and not buying anything.

That’s why I founded Trendy Seconds, a tech startup creating a fashion discovery website to help people easily find curated pre-loved and new sustainable fashion in one place, having the option of mixing & match items together and getting recommendations to complete the look.

I started developing the idea with Founder Institute (Houston Chapter), where I had the pleasure of meeting and connecting with great mentors, advisors, and fellow founders.

We are now on a mission to amplify the message and getting more people excited about discovering the Sustainable Fashion World. It’s time: we need to start normalizing the idea that a piece of garment might have multiple owners through its life cycle, and once it’s done, it should be repurposed into another useful item.

If you resonate with our purpose, stay tuned. Join the Trendy Seconds Tribe and help us spread the word.

Let’s do some good together, one t-shirt at a time.

Maria F. Burgos
Founder & CEO

Picture: Freepik by jcomp