The Vintage Studio Service Program From Thrilling Partners With Ruth E. Carter For Costume Designers

Shilla Kim-Parker, and Brad Mallow, founded a vintage marketplace and secondhand shop in 2018 named Thrilling. They have since grown to house over 600 vintage boutiques across 200 cities in the United States. Thrilling celebrates diversity with 95% of its stores they work with are women and POC-owned, supporting local and small businesses while protecting the environment. 

Ruth E. Carter is an Academy Award-winning costume designer who made history as the first African American to win in the category. Carter has also become the first Black costume designer to have a star dedicated to them on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She has worked on over 40 television and film projects for forty years, most notably, her award-winning costume on the Marvel film “Black Panther.”

Today, the Thrilling vintage marketplace and their new ambassador, Ruth E. Carter, are partnering to launch the film industry’s and the world’s first Vintage Studio Services program. Thrilling’s service program initiative assists stylists, costume designers, and production companies in sourcing secondhand and vintage items for all kinds of film and television projects. It is also a reaction to the waste produced by the film industry that spends hundreds of millions of dollars on new clothing, introducing sustainable and eco-friendly practices to productions.

The Vintage Studio Service program is created for shoppers to quickly and easily source various vintage pieces for coherent storytelling on screen. Thrilling is campaigning with Carter at a pinnacle in her career to bring nearly 1,000 shops across the U.S. to stylists and costume designers. 

Thrilling founder Shilla Kim-Parker, a former media executive, relates to the challenges of productions in maintaining quality and integrity to each project. She says, “I know how hard stylists and costume designers work to find the right clothing to tell a compelling story. I also know that productions can save time, money, energy, and the environment by committing to sourcing vintage first for their costume needs. We couldn’t be more excited to partner with Ruth E. Carter. Her professional legacy, creativity, and foresight, as well as her commitment to inclusion in entertainment, is truly unmatched.”

In the Thrilling campaign, Carter highlights style moments from the 1950s, leading into the future. Styled in specific looks, Carter depicts Black Radicalism of the 1950s, Black Glamour of the 1960s, Afrocentricity of the 1970s, Streetwear of the 1980s, and beyond. Each era illustrated the impact and role fashion plays in the narrative of visual storytelling and the memories they ensue.

As an ambassador, Ruth E. Carter has pledged to utilize Vintage Studio Services for her upcoming projects in 2022. Carter is excited for the partnership and as an ambassador stating, “It’s thrilling!!! I really want to know where this has been all my life? Seriously. I can’t tell you how many small vintage shops and back storerooms I have rummaged through. This idea not only brings the product to you, [it] cuts out all the sneezing!! Genius Thrilling. Happy to support small business, women in business and inclusion.” Thrilling founder Kim-Parker concludes that they “hope more stakeholders join us in helping make their productions more sustainable and supporting the small independent shops that are the heart of our company.”