Hi! Welcome back to Wear is She Wednesdays, a series that highlights one special girl each week to let her shine! Every Wednesday, we feature a different “she,” and get the scoop on her style, what makes her tick, and how the heck we can learn to be as awesome as she is. Today we’re asking the question everyone wants to know… Wear is Anna Z Gray?
WEAR IS… ANNA Z GRAY?
From New York City comes Anna Z Gray, a woman as captivating as the mysterious “Z” nestled in her name. Aside from the fact that her playful wardrobe and keen eye for vintage makes her a style icon, Anna is also the founder of Object Limited. With a growing community of over 19k, this marketplace and app is every vintage lover’s dream. It’s like “shopping your cool aunt’s closet,” and for those of us who don’t have one, thank the fashion gods Object Limited exists.
Both Anna and Object Limited have been featured by the likes of Man Repeller, Domino and Vogue which named OL “The Ultimate Vintage App.” It’s an absolute pleasure to interview Anna today, so keep reading for her thoughts on wearing many hats, interesting handbag discoveries and quarantine book clubs.
Hi Anna! Please Introduce your wonderful self!
Hello! I am Anna Z Gray on my birth certificate (and on the internet). I’m in New York City’s Lower East Side. I’m the cofounder of the vintage resale marketplace Object Limited.
1. Can you tell us about how Object Limited came to fruition?
I started working in fashion as soon as I moved to NYC at eighteen. I’ve worn a lot of hats (modeling, writing, event production, styling, PR…) and basically burned out on the quick spin and useless waste of the market. Swiveled to interior design for a minute until a 2-week road trip opened my eyes/brain to how many beautiful things were sitting in antique stores across the country.
It took us (I have a cofounder, Rudd Taylor!) a minute to figure out the question “How do we get these things into the hands of people that want them?” and now we’re figuring out the answer! We have an app and an IGTV show called How To Wear Stuff that breaks down styling tips with vintage.
2. What is it like running OL?
The hardest part is keeping our customers and vendors happy. What tech can we implement that makes selling and browsing and buying easier? This is also the most fun part of the job. I’ve bought vintage my whole life and started selling a few years ago so understanding and building features that I want to see on the platforms I’ve used in the past has been really exciting.
One-on-one interactions with our community is really important to us. We host multi-vendor Vintage Bazaars in different locations, have an open textline where customers can ask me styling questions, and our social feed (run by the inimitable Maggie Lanham – also a vendor!) is a fun, relatable source of information about vintage and secondhand.
3. Exploring so much vintage must be really inspiring. Do you think it’s had an effect on your personal style and where else do you draw inspiration from?
Very inspiring! I’ve always worn vintage. Initially for fiscal reasons and now additionally because I love the idiosyncrasy of it. I definitely have a macro understanding of trends and how truly cyclical and derivative style can be (which is great and deeply interesting). I also love the stories behind all of the pieces (once I found a woman’s calling card in a purse from the 50s and I googled her and she was still alive in Indiana! I didn’t tell her I had her bag though…). Another time I found a silvery halter dress in a vintage store in LA and it turned out to be a dress my friend had altered to wear to prom and it had originally been her mother’s prom dress. Is that not insane? She grew up in NJ, had no idea how the dress made it to LA.
4. Tell us about the women behind OL! Aside from fashion, what else do you enjoy?
Oh! We’re a fun bunch. Maggie and I shoot How To Wear Stuff together and have a grand time figuring out outfits to match a theme. We’re also very aligned on the idea that most things really can be purchased secondhand. During quarantine, our team has a book club that we host over Google Hangouts. It’s cute. We just finished Tara Westover’s Education. (Amazing story).
5. Who would you invite to your fantasy dinner party?
Someone just asked me this the other day. Bjork, Zadie Smith and Warren Buffet.
6. And the bonus question I like to ask everyone before they go: what’s something you’re really proud of right now?
Object Limited! Staying somewhat sane during Quarantine? My Rhododendron has been flowering for 4 weeks.
Where else can we find you, Anna?
@annazgray
and @object.limited 🙂