[Courtesy of Tim Fanning | The Crow’s Nest]
Fresh Thrifts: USFSP marketing graduate Alessandro Cocozza poses in front of his growing inventory.
Under the name Worldthrift, alumnus Alessandro Cocozza hopes to sew together the seams of his first business.
Cocozza, 24, graduated from the Kate Tiedemann College of Business with a marketing degree in December. Since then, it’s been his dream to bring St. Petersburg the best range of vintage styles from around the world.
“I just want to make my customers happy and give them the feeling I get when I find something great,” said Cocozza.
Based out of a spare room in his home, Worldthrift’s single pipe rack inventory is rich with treasures. He began collecting while he was in college, and has everything from classic Adidas jackets and U.S.-made splatter-painted men’s shoes to Italian-made Yeezy-style shirts.
“To me, if it looks like something that’s off Kanye West’s fashion line, and if I can give someone that look for ten dollars as opposed to three hundred dollars, that’s what would be great,” Cocozza said.
Cocozza grows his inventory every time he travels by scouring thrift stores and bargain bins, local and worldwide. In Italy, Cocozza’s father found a French-made Yves Saint Laurent sport coat. In Iowa, Cocozza found a Daniel Cremieux Vintage polo shirt.
Similar to knowing where your food comes from, Cocozza wants his customers to know where he discovered their products, whether it’s Mexico, Germany, Italy, California or Iowa.
In searching for new products, sometimes he will leave a thrift store saddled with bags bursting with merchandise and other times he’ll go away empty-handed. To him, the thrill of the chase is the best part of the job, and he loves not knowing what he might find next.
Cocozza never goes two weeks without finding something good. He frequents so many thrift stores in the area that he has built a personal relationship with the staff and the managers, who often set things aside for him.
“They know that I like a lot of silk button down or ones with cool or interesting patterns and thick, expensive-seeming European shirts,” said Cocozza.
There is nothing he likes better than finding hidden gems at the thrift store.
Although inspired by similar vintage fashion wholesalers Thriftlords and La Vintage Apparel, Cocozza doesn’t stop at collecting one-of-a-kind vintage pieces. He created Sonze, his own brand.
However, he doesn’t want his customers to wear a logo, but would like them to have something unique.
Cocozza is the Dr. Victor Frankenstein of fashion, repurposing old clothing, and breathing life back into old styles. He scours the t-shirt sections for the right design to cut out and sew onto something else. He has done everything from refurbishing a denim jacket to recycling a white PacSun short sleeve button up by fastening it with island-themed designs hand cut from t-shirts found in a last chance fifty-cent clearance rack.
To expand his business, Cocozza applies marketing skills learned in college in addition to crafts learned outside.
“Anytime I meet someone who says, ‘Hey, I can sew,’ I usually try to bring them over here to see what skills I can squeeze out of them.”
Although he has taught himself how to sew with help from home economic classes and Youtube, his family and friends are the greatest help because they aide Cocozza with his attention to detail. The biggest obstacle he faces is patience.
“I’ll be sitting there really trying to focus,” he said. “It’s time-consuming, but if I take my time, the results are going to show.”
Cocozza hopes that as his skill builds, he will be able to make things from scratch.
By the end of 2017, Cocozza’s goal is to open a store in the heart of downtown St. Petersburg. Before going big, he wants to test the waters with exclusive pop-up appearances. A pop-up is a temporary retail event that is here today and gone tomorrow. With this kind of plan, he can set up anywhere from inside a coffee shop to a record store, or even take up a temporarily vacant building.
