As she walks down the hallways, senior Camille Franks shows off her 90s and 2000s-inspired preloved pieces.
Over the summer, Franks and her older brother decided they wanted to make their passions come to life.
As they walked through the Hotspot Flea Market located on Adams Avenue in San Diego, Franks realized they had enough clothing and a sustainable way to get products in and out to set up a shop.
The process was long; Franks needed a seller’s permit, but there were age restrictions for obtaining one since she was sixteen years old, and she paid deposit fees to get into the market. However, once the journey started, it was fairly easy.
Her brand name Stupid Girl Thrifts originates from a band she and her brother, Tyler Franks, enjoy, “Garage.”
One of their favorite songs is called “Stupid Girl” and she thought it would be funny to name her brand after it.
On her business cards, there’s the saying “Don’t think, just buy! (That’s not stupid right?)”.
She intends to hold one more pop-up before Thanksgiving or winter break.
With her brother in Japan for an exchange program, it is mostly on her shoulders to run the shop with her brother behind the scenes.
Being in a community where everyone has their own niche and unique styles is Franks’s favorite part of her progress so far.
Her proudest achievement was making $1000 the first time they opened, compared to the $100 they expected.
“It’s interesting to see a dream turn into a reality… cause we never thought it would happen,” Franks said.
Senior Bianka Oropeza bought a pink floral midi skirt from Stupid Girl Thrifts because she loved how unique the piece was.
“I love that her clothing brand has so much variety and that they are all fun pieces,” Oropeza said.
Franks plans to do fashion and marketing in college. She wants to see more of that field, especially a designer’s hand-drawn designs on a runway.
She applied to San Francisco State as it is a good area for fashion, and she plans to continue her business in college.
She has learned about taxes at a younger age than most, and she has acquired many life skills she would not have if she had not started Stupid Girl Thrifts.
Franks is also involved in fashion during school hours with the Fashion Club.
They dress up for weekly themes, and she finds everyone’s interpretations of their clothing choices interesting.
One of her friends, senior Hope Nguyen, helped her with a previous pop-up concept.
“I love the markets that she sells in because it’s such a comfortable, accepting environment where everyone gets to bond over their love of fashion, jewelry, homemade goods, etc.,” Nguyen said.
Franks posts what they take to their markets on her account @stupidgirlthrift on Instagram.
As of now, her Depop account (an online thrift shopping site), @stupigirlthrift, is inactive as her brother runs it when he is in Poway.
Franks thrifts for pleasure and uses the clothing item until she needs a closet reset.
When she sorts through her clothes, she decides which ones she thinks she should sell and takes them to her market.
If there are clothes that don’t fit her, she may thrift them and take them to the market.
Ultimately, Franks makes sure that she is not thrifting clothes with the intent of reselling them as she believes it would not be fair to low-income families that rely on thrifting.
She believes what makes her business special is that she and her brother hand-select clothing from their closets that they like and cycle what they thrift through their closets so they are not reselling.
Franks includes vintage brown tags on the clothes she sells but they are labeled “Stupid Girl Thrifts.”
Her prices are determined by balancing the sentimental value they have to her and what they would be worth to someone else.
She tries her best to make pricing fair while also considering the profit she needs.
