Cover photo by Eden
Eden is a vintage clothing curator and reseller who started on Depop and has since grown her business, Hold Dear, into a studio in New York City. I recently interviewed Eden on my radio show, Pita Chip Chat, which aired every Wednesday at 11 a.m. of Fall Quarter 2025 on uclaradio.com. To listen to the interview in full, check out @andmore.archive on Instagram, where all show updates and previous recordings are posted.
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This interview was conducted by Ava Bozic on October 28, 2025. This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Video courtesy of @hold__dear on Instagram
Ava Bozic: Today, I’m interviewing Eden. She has her own vintage reselling business, Hold Dear, which reflects her eye for vintage Italian [clothing] and other beautiful pieces. I found her initially through Depop, where I purchased a very cute plum sweater, and kept following her shop ever since. Every drop has a plethora of pieces I want for myself, making Hold Dear one of my favorite places to shop or look for inspiration. Eden, thank you so much for talking with me today.
Eden: Thank you! That was such a sweet introduction. I’m so glad that we’re here. I love to put a face to the Depop buyers, so I’m so glad to meet you.
Ava: I know! I initially found you on Depop, but since then, you’ve transitioned to having your own studio in New York?
Eden: Yes, it’s been a crazy year. It’s been a big transition, but it’s so nice because I think a lot of my buyers are still girls that I initially found on Depop years ago, and they’ve been really consistent, and it’s been so fun to grow with those girls. Some of these girls have been shopping with me since my earliest days on Depop, which is crazy, because I’ve been full-time now for like, two and a half years. So that’s been so fun.
Ava: I remember I DMed you a while ago because I was just curious about the process of everything, because I think vintage curation is so interesting. I know you said growing up, you thrifted a lot. Did you always have that interest in fashion, or was it always specifically the thrifting side?
Eden: It’s an interesting question that I try to debrief myself [laughs], but I grew up going to thrift stores. My mom is extremely thrifty. We pretty much exclusively shopped at thrift stores when I was young, and I got to a point that I hated it. When everybody’s wearing Aéropostale and Hollister in middle school you want to be a part of that. So I was like, “I don’t want anything from the thrift store.”
I think the love for it came later, when I was living by myself. I was working as a model in LA at a pretty young age, I had no money, and I lived right next to a Goodwill. At the time, Goodwill was way better than they are now, and I just started collecting a plethora of beautiful vintage pieces, because I would go to this Goodwill like every single day, and that’s kind of where the love came full-fledged. I was relying on it to feel cool and interesting, and fashionable as a model. Like most resellers, I have this experience [where] you fall in love with the hunt, and so you get addicted. And so that’s sort of where that started. Once you’re in it, it’s really hard to stop. So you either have a crazy collection, or you start selling. [laughs] That’s sort of where the love began.
Ava: Absolutely, I feel like even now I don’t resell things unless it doesn’t fit me or something. But I even get the rush when I get an item, and I’m like, “This was such a good deal!” You just can’t stop once you’re getting the deals.
Eden: No, you can’t stop. I know. And so many girls have explained it to me from the Depop aspect. For me, it’s very in-person, like I need to be digging with my hands, but it’s so real.
Ava: Did you start that Depop [account] around that time then?
Eden: I’ve had my Depop for six or so years, probably– but I was just selling part-time, and I was mostly collecting the pieces. Then I went to Europe for three months, right after COVID, and that’s when the Depop, Hold Dear, was born.
I was in Europe, and I was just like, “There’s so many beautiful clothes, I just need to do this full time.” So I came back from Europe, and I was like, “How can I get European vintage, sell it in America, and make it my full-time job?” It took a long time to really flesh out those details, but once I did, I was like, “Okay, great. This is exactly what I wanted it to be.”
Ava: So there must have been a point where you decided, “I’m going to try and take this more seriously.” Was that what that Europe trip was kind of about?
Eden: It’s funny, because I went to Europe just to go to Europe, but while I was there– I think the realization for me is prior, I had been working as a model, and then I worked as a creative director at a visual studio. So I was always in that world and always had been self-employed. I had this somewhat entrepreneurial mindset already, and I was just in Europe for fun, just to do it. Every single day I was at a market, at a vintage shop, at XYZ. I was like, “Okay, this consumes all of my time and mental energy. I need to be taking that passion and putting it somewhere that can make me money too.” [laughs]
Ava: You said you started first on Poshmark, but you were selling things you didn’t care for as much. So it’s kind of like you lost the drive. But it seems like there’s a correlation with how much fun or interest you’re having with drive.
Eden: Prior to going to Europe, I had been selling, and then I was kind of like, “Eh, this is kind of boring.” So I worked at a creative studio, and at that time, I was just sourcing out in the wild, in the States, like at the Goodwills and the state sales, and honestly, people’s basements. And when you’re doing that, and you’re making money from it, it’s so hard not to see an item and see it as a monetary value. Like, you’re seeing some vintage 1970s men’s jacket that I can get for $1, but I can sell it. You start to understand things like inherent value based on their age and stuff like that, once you understand fabrics and eras of clothing. It was important for me to take a step back from that and realize why I like it is because I have a bit of a shopping addiction, and I like to get dressed up. So I needed to be selling pieces that resonated with me and meeting people who also resonate with those pieces that I’m selling in order for it to feel fulfilling full-time.
Ava: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. When did the branding piece come? I know with Depop, a lot of people just sell under their names. How did you decide you wanted it to be more of an actual storefront?
Eden: Well, I think when I decided to be more curated, I was like, “I need to fully be more curated.” I think that’s what helped my shop grow. You always hear just like finding a niche in the market, like finding a little piece in the market that is untapped or hasn’t really been touched. So I was just like, “I need to start selling pieces that I’m really enjoying the process of sourcing and listing,” because listing on Depop is a pain in the butt. [laughs] I’m not gonna go through the treachery of sitting down and listing [items] for hours. So with that, I was just like, I need to go full in in order for it to feel good for me. As a full-time job, it needs to be like a fun project. I need to be able to see it as a brand for myself in order to really get into it,
Ava: Maybe it ties to the authenticity part of actually enjoying it. You can also be like, “Here’s my completed vision.” Did you always know that you wanted to eventually have an in-person store or studio?
Eden: That was definitely always the goal. When I moved to New York, I honestly didn’t know if I was going to keep selling vintage. Luckily, a lot of the Depop girls who shop for me are in New York, so it was a really easy transition. It is kind of a big risk, because rent in New York is expensive, but I got to a point that I was, like, “if I’m going to continue reselling or selling vintage at all, I need there to be more human interaction.”
And I love, love, love seeing the pieces go home with people. So I was like, “If this is going to continue, I need a little bit of that.”
Ava: I feel like it’s definitely fulfilling, too, to actually meet people and talk with them.
Eden: Oh, for sure! I mean, it’s so fun. I have a blast. People come in here and bring their mom, bring their friend group, and try everything on. And it’s so fun for me because I model everything on Depop, but it’s really interesting to get people with different body types— I’ll get clothes, and then I’m like, I don’t really like this, and then I’ll see it on the right body type, and I’ll be like, “Oh no, this is amazing! It just wasn’t right on me.” That’s really fulfilling because I just see it with who it’s supposed to be, like the type of person it’s supposed to be on.
Ava: I wonder if it feels like giving a good gift.
Eden: Yeah, it’s super personal. It’s really nice, because I put a lot of effort into curating, and it’s really rewarding to hear people give feedback on that and be like, “Wow, these pieces fit better than anything!”
Ava: Are you exclusively selling in-studio now?
Eden: No, income-wise, it’s about 50/50, which is really nice. So I sell in person every weekend, but I also have an office space that I run Depop out of, because Depop is just such a large platform that, one, you have the potential to make a lot of money, and two, you reach people you know in other states.
I think eventually I would like to slow down on Depop and do a website or something, just because Depop is very time-consuming, but I do like Depop a lot, and I’m really grateful for the platform.
Ava: It’s nice that they kind of coincide and work together.
Eden: I will say I love Depop, but they do make it hard — and it’s so fair, because it’s against their safety policy — but they do make it hard to fully tap into the following that you have and translate it. But girls find me on their own. I try my best to do a little bit of marketing, but it’s not my strong suit.
Ava: How do you decide which pieces are yours or not? I feel like that’d be the hardest part.
Eden: Everybody always asks me this question. They’re like, “How do you not keep everything?!” I’m pretty good about it. In a way, you have to be because it’s your full-time income. But my whole wardrobe is from my own inventory at the same time. I think I’ve learned to understand my personal style and when to keep something based on how it makes me feel, or based on what my closet is lacking.
Also, because everything is secondhand, I’ll sometimes be like, “Okay, I want this jacket,” and my rule is if I don’t wear it once within three months, then it has to go back into the studio. [Since] it’s secondhand, I take it to the dry cleaner, and then I put it out in the studio. It’s nice in a way, because I keep it rotational with my own closet.
Ava: What about differentiating the items in the studio [versus those] listed on Depop?
Eden: I would say it’s kind of graded. All of the nicer pieces, quality/branding/material-wise, end up in the studio at this point. Any designer pieces I get, or just the really high-quality, fun pieces, they always go into studio first. If they sit on the floor in my studio for a long time, then they will eventually go on Depop.
When I get shipments, I separate them, and I don’t know how to describe that process other than my intuition or knowing the quality, but there is a distinction.
Ava: I’m assuming over time you have developed an eye for these things, so it makes sense that you’re like, “No, this one feels like a studio.”
Eden: It really is just like a feeling and a vibe. Quality materials— I try really hard to sell, mostly natural fibers: leather, wool, silk, so those always go in-studio.
Ava: It must be fulfilling to be contributing to — not to put it like this — the “good” side of fashion, being second-hand and cyclical.
Eden: It feels good. Having worked in the fashion industry in other capacities, there’s some really dark sides to fashion. When you see the trend cycles moving so quickly and a ton of clothes — I source in person, and it’s just piles and piles and piles of clothes. There’s beautiful pieces in there, but a lot of it just is not going to get worn or picked up, or bought.
I will say that I try really hard to educate people on how to care for their clothes. Because, as a vintage seller, I get pretty frustrated when vintage and the trend cycles overlap, because I want the pieces to have a long life after they leave my studio. When there’s a small trend, like a micro trend, you can always find that vintage piece, but then it’s like, “Are you going to keep that piece? Where is it going to go after? Are you going to care for it while you have it?” That’s important to me, so I try to educate people on how to clean and care for these fabrics or even just clothing that’s 20+ years old. There’s a way to care for it. Even really nice brands today are not made with the same level of quality. So keeping these clothes that will last a lifetime, lasting a lifetime, is really important.
“Keeping these clothes that will last a lifetime, lasting a lifetime, is really important.“
Ava: Completely. Learning to take care of [your clothes] is like a lost art; it’s really important. Learning how to take care of your garments, in my opinion, is a kind of self care.
Eden: It really is a lost art. Like repairing your clothes and or taking them to get repaired. Something I tell people when they’re buying vintage, they’re like, “Oh, it doesn’t fit perfectly.” And I’m like, “Take it to the tailor.” Finding a tailor that you like opens up so many doors for you to have pieces that fit you perfectly, that you’ll wear again and again and again and again. It is just a game-changer when you shop vintage, if you love a piece, you can make it fit really well. Obviously, not everybody has the money or the time to go to a tailor, but if you do, or even if you’re just shopping at Goodwill, and you find something for $5, take that to the tailor, and then by the end of it you wouldn’t have spent all that much money, and it’s a piece that fits you really well, or it’s matching your what you’re looking for.
Ava: And it’s so fulfilling to make relationships with artisans like that, because you’re actually in the real world supporting people, instead of just being online.
Eden: I love it. I love going to the cobbler. The cobbler is my favorite. Like, I’ll hoard shoes and take them to the cobbler, and be like, “Hey, I want this pair of boots made short” or “change the color of the leather.” It’s so fun because you really get to come home with a totally new pair of shoes.
Ava: Yes, it’s also really impressive.
Eden: Yeah. And caring for your products, in general, it’s like caring for your space. You start to have this attachment to them, because you’re like, “Oh, this is my favorite sweater, and I treat it this way.” And it’s a fun process, for sure.
Ava: I also wanted to ask more about the curating process. Are your items pretty much exclusively from Italy?
Eden: I source other places in Europe; every once in a while, I’ll find something in the States, but it is really hard. I got a little spoiled when I first started sourcing in Europe, because you just don’t find as much here, there’s just such a quality difference. [There is] such a larger emphasis on natural materials in Italy, specifically. For being such a small country, they do a lot of production. That’s really nice because we produced clothes in the United States up until like 2002, but past that, most of it was outsourced to China.
It’s just really interesting to see so much beautiful leather and silk, and natural materials that you don’t find as much of here. So I got a little spoiled with Italian vintage, and now I pretty much exclusively source there. But that being said, I kind of like to source wherever I can. I was in Greece this time last year, and I sourced there. If people are traveling with me, they’re like, “What do you mean? We’re on vacation? You want to go to the thrift store?!” I’m like, “Well, we’re on vacation, and there’s a thrift store… Of course!” [laughs] It’s kind of one of those things that is really fun for me, because everywhere I go, I source. My favorite is getting pieces from the original owner, and then getting the story; that is so fun to me. When I get to go to an estate sale and meet the woman who bought this when she was a flight attendant in Japan, and she bought this beautiful leather belt, that is so fulfilling for me. I love to try to source in person whenever I can.
Ava: It’s a matter of making connections constantly.
Eden: Yeah, it’s so fun to hear the stories. It’s such a beautiful way to connect with people. As much as we over-consume, having material goods having a connection to them is so interesting. Being able to then pass that on to someone is so fun for me.
Ava: Definitely, I was lucky to travel a bit over the summer, and I found this cool vintage store in Nice [La Belle Epoque Vintage]. I’m always like, “Whoever owns this is probably the coolest person ever,” I just want to meet them. So I talked to the owner for a while, and she just had such a good collection of vintage French designers, and then I bought [something], almost to support what she’s doing. [laughs] Plus, I think a lot of people I know with good style always are like, “if I could raid anyone’s closet, it’d be a cool eclectic grandma,”
Eden: Oh, for sure.
Ava: And that’s kind of what you seem to be doing a lot of the time.
Eden: Yeah, if you can meet those cool, eclectic grandmas, it is so fun, and they have a million fun stories to tell.
Ava: Would you have any advice for anyone wanting to be a vintage reseller or do something similar to what you’re doing?
Eden: I mean, starting out, I would say my biggest piece of advice is just to do it in a way that feels good and authentic all the time. I really think the best shops come from a place of passion. Get your hands dirty, go and find a way to source, and get creative, because every single vintage seller is doing it differently. That’s what’s so interesting about it and why all these stores feel so different. Source pieces that make you excited and that you want to sell, because, from my experience, just coming at it from a monetary standpoint, is not that fulfilling.
Ava: How long have you had the studio? And how is it? Is it what you expected? Is it much harder?
Eden: When I first moved to New York, I opened a tiny studio, it was like eight by ten or something. It was so small, and it was wonderful just to have people come in and shop in person. But it was hard because I would set it up on the weekend for people to shop, and then during the week, I would push all the clothes to one side and photograph and list on Depop
Now I have a dedicated showroom that stays set up all the time, and I have a separate office for Depop, which is amazing. I really love it. I love that I’m in a bigger space now where it can stay set up, because people can come whenever during the week or on the weekend. It’s just so nice to come down here, my office is upstairs, and every once in a while I’ll just come down and be like, “Oh yeah, I own a store, this is so fun!” [laughs]
Ava: Of course!
Eden: Sometimes I’ll pull a really fun piece to wear to an event for myself, and it’s just so fun. It’s so fun to watch people interact with the space and see people try stuff on. It’s so fulfilling. I want to be in person more often, but it’s a slow transition because I do have a pretty big Depop platform that I need to tend to, and it takes a lot of time and energy, but I’m just grateful to have it.
Ava: I wonder then, are you interested in styling too? Does it kind of feel similar?
Eden: I would style an individual. I have a hard time loaning the pieces out, because I get really attached to them. In my experience, if I loan it out, and then it comes back to me damaged, [the client would probably be like] “We’ll pay you for it.” But it’s a vintage piece! So it’s hard for me, because with the shop, at least once someone leaves with it, I’m like, “Okay, well now it’s your responsibility,” whereas with styling, it’s still my responsibility to keep this piece intact. So I get a little too attached to fully style, but I have done some styling. And if the opportunity presents itself and it feels like a good fit, I do have a lot of fun doing that.
Ava: Yeah, I love that. It’s clear that through everything, you just really care about things being taken care of and being in the right hands. It definitely shines through when I’m stalking what you’re up to. [both laugh]
Eden: Yeah, I know I’d love to have you in the store, because as much as I like Depop, the showroom is another level.
Ava: I bet!
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Eden has cultivated a career filled with what she loves: vintage clothing, storytelling, quality items, and community. Her brand Hold Dear is a beautiful source of vintage items from all around the world, often made of quality natural fibers such as leather and silk. If you are looking for a fun source of chic clothes, check out @Hold_Dear on Depop and Instagram, or if you find yourself in New York City, schedule a time to visit Eden’s studio for yourself! The experience will be nothing short of delightful. To keep up with fashion chats like this one, check out Pita Chip Chat on uclaradio.com, and follow @andmore.archive for updates about episodes and new, exciting guests like Eden.
