Inspiring Conversations with Skylah Marroquin & Omar Sandoval of Chaos Vintage and Thrift

Today we’d like to introduce you to Skylah Marroquin & Omar Sandoval.

Hi Skylah & Omar, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
Omar and I became friends when we started working at a local vintage shop. We bonded over the love of fashion and vintage. We noticed there were flaws in the places we were working. We wanted a shop that was owned by locals for locals. We say the struggle of local resellers being taken advantage including us and that’s when Chaos was born.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Owning a business is never easy. There are a lot of things we had to learn along the road but we are thankful for the people around us who have helped tremendously. It’s also been hard for skylah navigating being a female owner.

A lot of the time she’s looked down on or not taken seriously but she keeps her head up and just wants to show the young girls, an especially Hispanic women that anything is possible when you want your mind to it.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
We are a curated vintage and thrift collective. We have 25 vendors that range from local resellers to artists to fashion designers. We believe in upcycling and thrifting as a way of being environmentally conscious. We strive to stop buying from fast fashion companies that not only harm the plant but also use unethical practices such as child labor and unsafe working conditions. Our mission is to reduce, reuse and recycle.

What sets us apart is we are a Punk company. So we are very politically aware. We stand up for what’s right no matter what. We try to cater to every customer type and in our store, everyone is accepted with loving arms because we understand what it feels like to be a misfit.

We also both ate Latin American (Omar is Mexican & skylah is Salvadoran). We are very proud of our heritage and like to represent that with our store. We are Chicano punks. We also love to host local bands and have them perform in store

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
We just want to create a safe community of misfits who have a love of fashion, music, and sustainability.

Contact Info:

• Website: Chaosthrift.com
• Instagram: @Chaos Vintage and Thrift

Image Credits
Gabi Swan, Raymond Ruiz, and Xela Erriuga