Written by Kristen Apolline Castillo
What started as a side business from Jaeseung Lee’s garage has become a full-time career that focuses on the art of repurposing vintage clothing and building community, a transition he never thought he would make.
Named after a childhood lesson taught by Lee’s mother, his business, Two Fold, aims to give previously used clothing a new life.
“When you wipe a table with a rag, most people just use that rag one time and then just throw it away,” Lee said. “But instead of throwing it away, my mom used to always tell me to just flip it over and use the other side. Just because you use a rag once, that doesn’t mean it’s trash… Same thing with clothing. You can just flip it over, give it to another person.”
Before starting Two Fold, Lee was a sushi chef in Sacramento who would visit thrift stores on his lunch breaks. During these short breaks, he would find unique pieces of clothing that he wouldn’t find elsewhere, but didn’t know much about vintage clothing.
“I didn’t even care if it was vintage,” Lee said. “I just thought it looked super fucking cool.”
At some point, his collection grew, and Lee’s closet was “way too full.” With an overflow of clothing, Lee began posting listings for them on Depop as a way to rehome the items rather than sending them to the landfill.
“I didn’t want to just throw it away,” he said. “Every dollar meant a lot to me back then.”
One Christmas, a friend had gifted him an original Catherine Wheel band t-shirt from the 90s. After some wear, Lee eventually sold the shirt on Depop for $80 but received messages from buyers offering to buy it for $300-$400.
“I was like, ‘Why would you pay that much?” Lee recalled. “And they were like, ‘Dude, this thing goes for like $1,000.’” Ever since then, I was really introduced to vintage and how it works.”
Lee found a curious affinity to vintage clothing and quit his job to focus on vintage reselling and curation. He became deeply invested in the craft, history and community of vintage clothing.
“It wasn’t just about the money for me in the beginning,” Lee said. “ It was definitely more about the people I did it with, (who) just taught me a lot and gave me a reason why it was worth so much. “
After three years running Two Fold, Lee and his team have opened a showroom in Los Angeles that encapsulates their personal style and trends in the vintage scene.
“I feel a lot more comfortable and motivated being in an area of like-minded people, good food and overall just a lot more to do,” Lee said. “This creative scene in general fits our needs and aesthetics much more.”
Now with a physical storefront, the Two Fold team focuses on its one-on-one connections with buyers. In-person relationships have become more important to Lee throughout the years, he said. He takes pride in having meaningful conversations with customers who share their stories and feedback on garments they have purchased from Two-Fold.
“Seeing them still wearing their garments they bought years ago, it makes me so happy that something I sold them is still being worn by them,” Lee said. “That’s one thing that gets me motivated for sure, to keep doing this.”
With the Los Angeles showroom comes the city’s clientele. Before the move, Two Fold’s inventory did not so much reflect the team’s personal aesthetics and would cater more towards the trends of Sacramento. Now serving the eclectic and diverse style of SoCal, Lee and his team can hand-source more clothes that meet their personal curation standards.
“Distressed, faded, grungy clothes tend to be much harder to come across, hence why the prices are a little higher,” Lee said. “We didn’t have enough customers to sell those to (in Sacramento), so we couldn’t buy as much. Over here, since we have the clientele that comes into the store and buys a lot of these types of clothing, it allows us to buy more.”
To match the brand’s grunge aesthetic, Lee looked for a space with an industrial feel, concrete floors and good lighting. When the Two Fold team began setting up the apartment Lee found in an online listing, they played around with a layout that best combined the team members and Lee’s personal taste with the curated clothing.
In this new space, Lee hopes he can connect with the community of designers, stylists and casual wearers in Los Angeles in more ways than just through emails or orders on their website.
“A lot of customers think we’re just jerks, but we are really not,” Lee said. “We’re just guys. Guys doing vintage. So it’s always nice to talk to people and interact with them.”
Beyond curating vintage garments, Lee and the Two Fold team place importance on utilizing each team member’s creative ability to market the brand’s work. Whether it be through editorial photoshoots or social media posts, “it’s really important for (Two Fold) to be creative and use our brains,” Lee said.
“We are a brand and we’re all creative people,” Lee said. “My team and I, we’re creatives. We’re not just flat layers. We’re not just vintage collectors. We are all creatives. We all come from an artistic background.”
While the culture of vintage reselling has evolved, so have Lee’s experiences. Lee and the Two Fold team interact with highly educated vintage buyers who are on top of the latest microtrends and the value of specific pieces. Adapting to the ever-changing landscape of the vintage scene has been a struggle that challenges Two Fold to exercise the team’s ability to keep up with trends and consistent customer demand.
While Lee has seen other vintage stores shift their focus to creating their own products or new clothing, he does not see Two Fold evolving into anything more than vintage curation.
“I get why other brands do that and I respect it,” Lee said. “But for myself, vintage is something I love doing and that I draw inspiration from. Ever since I started, it has always been my thing.”
Even six years after his initial interest in vintage clothing peaked, Lee continues to hold the uniqueness of vintage culture close to his heart and allows it to drive him and the Two Fold team forward. He remains inspired by “other stylists using vintage and creating insane looks.”
“There’s nothing as genuine and original as vintage, in my opinion,” Lee said. “Other brands, even high design houses, buy from vintage shops, and they change a couple things about those original designs and put it on their own product… To know the history, where they come from, and to be able to explain all the design details is very utilitarian. Deciding to have a vintage shop was for a lot of reasons, (but) that’s why I picked it to be”