There has been an increase in the number of millennials and zoomers forging their own way in the fashion world by shopping second-hand and second-hand.

These people are looking to add some aesthetic to their wardrobe, especially vintage pieces that take us back just a few decades ago, from the 80s to the early 2000s, as well as more contemporary and coveted designer items.

A Michigan State University student’s vision for a space that speaks to this generation turned into reality when he opened More Than Vintage.

In November last year, 19-year-old Louis Azor was inspired after walking past an empty storefront on Division Street in downtown East Lansing.

“I just closed my eyes and saw a bunch of kids here and hanging out as kids,” Azor said.

The vacant space sparked the idea of ​​starting a business by merging the concept with another of his great interests.

“You have to be unique, so that’s when the idea of ​​having my second, like my best passion I have, like clothes and styling,” Azor said.

After months of work, Azor was able to open the doors to More Than Vintage, or MTV, in April.

The store features items that Azor and its employees have hoarded themselves, ranging from special collectibles to wholesale vintage and customer-swap clothing.

He wanted the store to represent pop culture from the 80s to the present day.

“We have vintage hats and hypebeast hats like Supreme, and that’s where it gets more than vintage because now you connect like our fashion calendar with, like, New York culture to urban culture. “

On one side of the store, there is a bright pink wall.

There are paintings of President John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. and MSU football coach Mel Tucker. He said the former president and civil rights leader were American icons.

“I was, like, putting them on the wall with Mel Tucker being the new pinnacle at East Lansing,” he said.

In the middle of the store, there are rows of 80s graphic t-shirts hanging on shelves.

Vibrant and colorful puffer jackets line the walls and designer sneakers are stacked on glass platforms on the wall.

The artistry behind the curated exhibit makes it hard to believe when Azor says he wasn’t so forward-thinking growing up in Philadelphia.

“Because my parents couldn’t afford to grow up because…it was just me, my mom, my grandma. So I never really had the flashiest clothes,” he said. declared.

Nonetheless, he has seen his childhood idols like Jay-Z and Kanye West use fashion to express themselves.

Azor shows off one of his favorite Kayne-designed items in the store: a plain blue puffer jacket.

Azor describes it as a “huge inflatable trash bag”.

He said he admired Kanye because his style set him apart from others.

“He was very weird with it, like his blue puffer jacket. No one would ever think of creating that or just going out in public wearing that, but he did,” he said.

Inside MTV, shoppers can expect to stumble upon items that might be sold out online or rare to find.

Like a piece from the UGG x Telfar collaboration hanging on one of the walls. Telfar is a rising black-owned brand with a signature vegan leather shopping bag. It became the “it” accessory a few years ago.

This bag combines the aesthetics of an UGG boot with the Telfar logo. Moving to a few clothes racks, Azor showcases a 90s Godzilla t-shirt.

He said the part was hard to find.

“It’s like one of the last original Godzilla t-shirts that isn’t printed.”

When it comes to finding parts for More Than Vintage, Azor said it all depends on who you know.

“There’s some big vintage.com. They also have some great wholesale boxes that we buy. There’s a secret…no secret, they’re just like really good ‘grilled’ guys who live in Kalamazoo … Their whole lives, they just collected major pieces,” he said.

As for the future of More Than Vintage, Azor said he was looking forward to the expansion.

“Honestly, if it goes the way I see it, if it goes the right way, we can, we could have one in almost every state.”

More Than Vintage is in its first month of opening, and Azor hopes the store will become as iconic as the fashion trends that continue to mark us today.