NOSTAGLIC.

The word shop director Sarah Aitia used to describe the online store Shop Barely Legal, that was created by her and Tori Solomon.

Shop Barely Legal or sometimes known as Barely Legal is an online shop that sells pieces made by different designers. With its 90s inspired looks, the store has a colourful, youthful and raunchy feel that brings life to expressing yourself through clothing.

Their playful tagline “Rather be broke than basic” sets them apart as young entrepreneurs trying to make it in the world of fashion. The store is a cool collaboration between business and fashion.

“Fashion has always been an interest of mine. I love to work with clothes,” said Aitia. To help progress her business Aitia put on a fashion show in March at the Smiling Buddha in Toronto.

The room a had a cool underground lounge feel with a great mix of old 90s and top 40 music playing in the background from the DJ. The open bar and a talkative crowd of people set the mood the for the show to be lively. Backstage, the models were preparing themselves downstairs for the catwalk and crowd. The dressing room was a little tight square room that could fit about 5 to 10 people. Despite this, all the models were looking cool and collected. The show started at about 10 p.m. with the crowd hyping the models and fashion pieces all the way through.

The catwalk was filled with bright, enthusiastic colours and prints that make you want to jump into a bowl of 90s soup. A lot of the pieces were prints that you wouldn’t normally wear every day. “I’ve always pictured pieces in my head that you can’t buy in stores”, said Aitia. You had smiley faces, peace signs, Bart Simpson, marijuana leaves and raunchy attitude flowing out of the catwalk. The models strutted their stuff to Daphne and Celeste’s U.G.L.Y and tore it down with their outgoing poses. Here are some shots from the show!

Shop Barely Legal has also partnered with the Nylon Shop, where their pieces are also being sold. Aitia and Solomon hope to one day take the store to bigger and brighter things, maybe even expanding their huge online presence to a real life store. “That’s our long term goal”, said Aitia.

You can find Shop Barely Legal pieces at their website: http://www.shopbarelylegal.com