Photo by Erica Euse
Like most girls who grew up in the 90s, my friends and I were completely consumed by our shitty dial-up internet and shopping at Hot Topic. As I grew older and technology became more complex, my fascination with internet pop culture and screen prints never seemed to fade. So when Shop Jeen bombarded my Twitter feed with clothing patterned with the pile of shit emoji and Ryan Gosling’s face, I had to check it out.
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A penis-shaped water gun, 24-karat-gold rolling papers, and a Mishka baseball jersey with the words “Death” printed across it are just a few of the items you can find on Shop Jeen’s webstore. The unusual array of products is reminiscent of your local mall’s Spencer’s, only instead of lame graphic tees of the Beatles, there are streetwear brands like Huf and Dimepiece.
Shop Jeen is a shopping paradise for any pop culture-crazed 90s girl who wants a dose of nostalgia. The site is designed with colorful 3-D word art and a rainbow icon that sits next to the arrow as you move around the store. Shop Jeen’s kaleidoscopic approach to 90s nostalgia made perfect sense when I learned that the founder, Erin Yogasundram, is only 23-year-old.
The New York native launched the store in June 2012 before dropping out of George Washington University. She later brought on her first employee, creative director Amelia Muqbel. The duo spent hours sorting through online marketplaces like Etsy and eBay to find the most obscure and sometimes bootleg products, culling their trademark selection of viral content-inspired fashion
Social media platforms like Instagram have been integral to Shop Jeen’s success. Being a pioneer in advertising products on the app gained them thousands of loyal customers. Now, with more than 11,000 posts on Instagram and 40,000 tweets, Erin and Amelia are constantly sharing their products to their fans and building an international business that started in Erin’s dorm room.
I met up with besties Erin and Amelia in midtown Manhattan to talk about Shop Jeen’s success, speaking in emojis, and the internet.
VICE: How exactly did the shop start?
Erin: I made the first site on BigCartel and it was a very small deal. We started as an accessories store that I was running out of my dorm room for six months. After that, I decided that I had to go back to New York. I took the first office I saw and hired a bunch of interns. We finished the year with interns and hired Amelia as the creative director in January 2013.
What kind of accessories were you selling?
Erin: I was selling a lot of items from Etsy. I was very inspired by it, but it was hard to find what the good stuff was. It was like finding a needle in a haystack. But I had the patience to research.
Was the first incarnation of Shop Jeen similar to what it is today?
Erin: Yeah. I mean people, especially in high school, referred to me as having a lot of different phases. I remember being punk and then trash and vaudeville. I think Amelia went through the same phases. Then Abercrombie and Tory Burch… When I look at the original website the curation of products is so different. That is how you stay on trend. We are constantly finding new things and thinking new things are cool.
So you guys met while interning together?
Amelia: We first crossed paths three years ago when we interned together at Alexander Wang. Then after she started the store, she wanted to pick up Noir jewelry and I did sales and marketing there.
Once you came on, what inspired the aesthetic of the shop?
Amelia: When I started, it was really like we had known each other our whole lives. We are into the same things. We used Tumblr and Instagram to see all of the new stuff that was happening. We also went to a lot of trade shows together for different products like streetwear, toys, stationary, and gifts. That is where we find a lot of stuff.
What was your overall vision for the shop?
Erin: It changes every single day. The company is like a roller coaster of emotion. It keeps it exciting, but everyday our style and who we are inspired by is evolving. A lot of designers are planning for the future. I don’t know what Fall 2014 is going to look like. I don’t know what tomorrow is going to look like.
Amelia: We work very quickly. We will be on our phones and see something we love. We will see who makes it, email them, and get it the next week.
How has your social media presence played a role in your business?
Amelia: Well, it takes us away from doing our business. Erin is genuinely connected to the people because she is the one tweeting and taking pictures. I think Instagram is the biggest reason we got recognized early on. We would take pictures of ourselves with the products instead of having models.
You guys still update it yourself?
Amelia: We have kind of destroyed our Instagram, so to speak. We got blocked from the popular page shortly after Facebook bought it. We were getting 20,000 likes per photo and had half a million followers. All of sudden it dropped and new site visits dropped. They aren’t making any money off of us and we were getting major advertising. That was our only marketing. We could put something on Instagram and it would sell… But there will be a new social media platform and we will be the first brand on it, just like Instagram.
A lot of your products are inspired by internet culture. How did that come about?
Amelia: We are so immersed in it. All day long we are on Instagram and Tumblr. We relate to it because it is our age group. We have our language of talking to each other through emojis. There is a group of people who love that and want to wear shit with emojis all over it. We go with it because that is what we genuinely love right now.
So your products are a reflection of your lifestyle?
Amelia: We struggle a lot with what the customer wants and what we want. I think we are sorting things in a very different way. People ask us what makes Shop Jeen different, and it is that we are pulling from a lot of places and we have inspiration from a very wide range. We are less targeted than say Karmaloop, who just does streetwear. We are a one-stop shop essentially.
You have very loyal followers through social media and those buying your products. What do you think people are drawn to?
Amelia: They like that we are really young because they can connect with us. I think they like our relationship a lot. Erin just posted a picture of her squirting me with the penis gun and I love when people comment like “me and you.” It seems real, because it is real. We are friends and we are having fun with products we genuinely love.
Erin: It is relatable. Everybody loves emojis, penises, weed leaves. We are making stuff that people want. It is a little bit out there, but secretly people love it.
How many products do you carry?
Amelia: We have 2,500 on the site right now. We have always been sku heavy since the beginning. We like to try a bunch of styles. Rather than buy a 100 of one style, we will buy ten of ten styles. We like to give the customer the option and we are so crazy we want everything.
What are some of the challenges you have faced as young women trying to build a business?
Erin: It is very intimidating. I don’t want to play the young female card, but people want to take advantage us.
So if your personal style evolves again, so will the shop?
Erin: Come to us in a month and we will have completely different products. We can honestly go in so many different directions and I think that is a beautiful thing.
Amelia: We are young, so we are growing up with our customers. Their tastes are changing just as much as ours are.
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