Hello!

My name is Emma Heines, a visual artist and sustainability educator from Ohio. I founded 2nd Life Studio on the principles of style & sensibility to revive old clothes into a new world, and help people align their environmental values with a true sense of style & expression. Whether you're looking for a few new trendy pieces, or capsule wardrobe staples, allow me to guide you into sustainable, conscious style. 

 

Somewhere along the way, we lost access to goods made from artisans and craftspeople. High quality, long lasting items were replaced by disposable, inconsequential versions. Now, I won't bore you with my theories on the Industrial Revolution and the dark past of the Recycling industry, but what you need to know is this: at this moment on Earth, we have enough clothing to clothe our next 6 generations. 

 

The extreme overproduction of everyday items like decor and clothing, over the past 20 years alone, has impacted our environment irreparably. The fashion industry is responsible for over 20% of global water pollution, sending 92 million tons of textile waste into landfills every year, and horribly mistreating and underpaying women and children—just to name a few things. Clothing is discarded at an alarming rate. An average garment is worn anywhere from 6 months to 6 years, then is either thrown away or donated. Donated clothes, if accepted, sit on thrift store shelves for mere weeks before being moved to an outlet facility, and eventually on to a landfill for more than 200 years before breaking down.

 

Fashion, styles, and aesthetics are the most cyclical industries in the world. Trends from 20 to 60 years ago are back, produced with less quality and in a much higher quantity, serving a greedy, corrupt, and harmful industry. By buying secondhand, we can eliminate this process—from production to decomposition—keeping articles of clothing in existence and in a new cycle of conscious consumption. Shopping from 2nd Life takes us back to the glory days of buying from a local, a friend, or a small business owner.

 

It is my passion to study fashion cycles and dig through outlet bins to find good quality, classic, and trending items for everyone. My services speak to those in search of a more sustainable shopping routine, or anyone looking for personal styling and signature vintage and secondhand clothing.

 

Personal style is created through inspiration and visualization. When you picture the next best version of yourself, what are you wearing? What kind of accessories create your dream space and define your home? Using Pinterest to create a vision board is a great way to capture the essence of whatever aesthetic you're going for.

 

Once you've nailed down your look, shop for individual pieces on the SHOP page or head to the BUNDLES page and choose from one of my 2 Style Bundles. Bundles are an affordable way to acquire multiple outfits handpicked by me—based on your individual style, sizing, and vision board.

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2nd Life Studio serves and honors all. It's with conscious effort that we strive to be price & size inclusive in all we do. 

 

Saving the world is a doozy, but we are in it together, and buying cute old stuff & making steps toward a more eco-friendly lifestyle is honestly...really hot.

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much love,

 

Emma

 

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