Founded Fest, Fix-It Fair celebrate vintage fashion and community

Peter Michaels has built more than a successful vintage store in Eugene. He’s also built a community hub that celebrates sustainable fashion, local artistry, and self expression. 

“I feel like community, especially in times like this, is the most important thing that we have,” he said. “And I think that clothing is a common denominator, so to speak, that can bring people together, and then we can congregate and hang out.” 

Michaels is only 23, and he’s the owner of Founded, a vintage store at 749 Willamette St. in Eugene that offers men’s and women’s vintage clothing. This Sunday, June 8, Founded will host the fifth Founded Fest, a day-long event showcasing local art, fashion, and sustainability. 

What started as a grassroots effort the first year with 26 vendors has grown into a major community event, hosted in part by the city of Eugene’s sustainability department, featuring 57 vendors plus food booths. 

This year’s event, at the Farmers Market Pavilion, will include a fashion show and a Fix-It Fair with volunteers on hand to help repair clothing items, leather goods, and jewelry. Participants can bring one item for repair at no cost, and the service is offered on a first-come, first-served basis. Participants can also connect with the ToolBox Project, which loans out tools at no cost.  

From Portland bins to Eugene community

When he was a teen, Michaels said, he started wanting to express himself in a way that shopping at typical chain stores doesn’t allow for. 

“Vintage and thrift stuff in particular is really awesome for self-expression, because you can get stuff that’s unique and that you will not see other people wearing,” he said. “You can really get a lot weirder with it, as opposed to shopping at a place like Hollister or PacSun where you’re bought into whatever their curation is, versus a thrift store or vintage shop where you can get a plethora of stuff from different eras and piece it together however you so choose.”

Michaels was born and raised in Eugene. He dropped out of college at 18 and was working in a warehouse, before he moved to Portland and began to pursue a career in clothing.

“I’d been reselling a little bit in high school and making my own stuff a little bit, but I moved to Portland with the goal of getting into clothing in some way or another,” Michaels said. 

He started collecting items from daily trips to the Goodwill bins, and selling online and at pop-up markets at a streetwear store near his house. After returning to Eugene when he turned 20, the time was right for an in-person store. 

“This space and this community have been awesome to us,” he said. 

Curated vintage with personality

At Founded, Michaels stocks the store with things he’s drawn to. 

“Every single piece goes through me and what I like,” he said. “If you come in and you like what we have, you’ll probably always like what we have.”

The store specializes in denim, wool sweaters and knits, rock tees, and 1970s-era pieces featuring flared legs, bright colors, and mod patterns. He gravitates toward pieces with stories, the stuff that got him into vintage in the first place: “Eclectic, random stuff you’ll only see once, stuff with patches or unique fades or just a life of its own that it’s already lived,” he said. 

Vintage shopping is popular in Eugene, and Michaels said the number of vintage stores here has fostered a collaborative environment. Many of the vintage stores here have their own specialties, so if customers are seeking something specific, they get referred to other stores. 

“We really do have a community over competition thing,” Michaels said. “If you come in and you’re looking for a big flared dress, I’ll send you to Wild Paisley or Bumble Boutique, and they do the same.”

Founded Fest offers more than fashion

This year’s Founded Fest features more than 35 vintage clothing vendors from across Oregon, offering everything from Y2K (early 2000s) pieces to pre-1970s pieces. About a dozen local artists will showcase original clothing creations — from bikinis to abstract painted designs on bandanas to soccer jerseys. One vendor, Bell the World, specializes in making bell-bottom pants from vintage material. 

Entertainment includes jazz and bluegrass throughout the day, followed by evening performances featuring a fashion show with six local designers using sustainable and reused fabrics, a contemporary ballet performance by ballet collective Fermata, and soul and funk bands Grasp and Soul Vibrator.

Because Michaels grew up in Eugene, he remembers the Eugene Celebration, An annual community festival, which doesn’t happen here any longer. Part of Michaels’ hope is that he can resurrect a sense of that community spirit that the Eugene Celebration delivered and bring it for a younger generation. 

Founded Fest is for any age, he says, but the 16- to 24-year-olds will probably appreciate it the most.  

Michaels plans to put any proceeds from the event back into future events so that each year can be bigger and better.

“We want to put on something really cool,” he said. “It’s just awesome to see people getting together.”

Want to go?

Founded Fest
Sunday, June 8
1-9 p.m.
Farmers Market Pavilion