Meet CICLO: Sustainable Fashion Made Easy

Graphic by Isabelle Hauf-Pisoni.

Alyssa Marazzo’s love for thrifting stemmed from her grandmother, a seamstress. The two thrifted together as Marazzo grew up, fostering a great appreciation for the craft from a young age.

When the Kellogg School of Management student saw how overwhelming secondhand shopping was for the infrequent thrifter, she decided to start her own thrift store with some of her peers. Ciclo, which means recycling clothing, has been run out of the founders’ apartments, creating an intimate atmosphere. Developed as part of a project for an entrepreneurship class, Ciclo has grown tremendously since its conception a year ago. 

Co-founders Alyssa Marazzo (left) and Isabella Artiles (right). Images via Ciclo.

Ciclo was built with three essential values in mind: educating people on how to shop sustainably, empowering customers to make the right choices and being approachable regardless of one’s style. 

Rather than having hoards of clothing available on racks scattered around the store, Ciclo has a clear and clean website design, with a style quiz to aid the customer in finding what’s best for them. The idea behind the design was to mimic a retail brand, rather than a typical thrift store.

“We’re trying to make it that every person feels comfortable buying secondhand,” Marazzo says. “If everyone has 20% of their wardrobe secondhand, that makes a huge environmental difference.”

Originally, the team’s goal was to partner with local secondhand stores, supporting them in bringing their business online. Kellogg student Isabella Artiles, one of the co-founders of Ciclo, said the idea was to create a symbiotic relationship where they help give back to the community that gives to them. Despite the challenges COVID-19 has presented, Ciclo was able to partner with Monarch, a store in Logan Square. 

“We want to empower the local thrift stores to have an additional digital channel so we are not necessarily taking away inventory from these stores that are meant for a different demographic,” Artiles says. “We are just being conscientious about partnering with other stores that are going to get a benefit from a small business perspective.” 

Over the past year, Marazzo and Artiles have had to balance school, jobs and running their first entrepreneurial venture. Oh, and also a global pandemic. The month the store was initially supposed to open, the pandemic hit. The team reached out to their peers at Kellogg and asked if they could donate some clothes, which they needed to get the business up and running. They got an overwhelming response, receiving over 1000 items of clothing.

Image via CICLO.

Though they were able to get a headstart, the overwhelming feelings of being a first-time entrepreneur remained. 

“Being an entrepreneur is hard. You wake up one day and feel like you’re going to become the next Amazon, then you wake up another day and think, ‘How am I going to make it to tomorrow?’” Artiles says. “It’s been really challenging, but really rewarding.”

Marazzo conducted a series of interviews with customers to get feedback on their experiences with the brand. When they told her how they shared their experiences with family and friends and were able to shop easily at the store, Marazzo knew her team was doing something important. 

“It’s the random people that have no connection to us whatsoever that are saying it’s such a pleasant experience,” Artiles says. “We’ve had customers buy repeatedly, five to seven times, and that’s really validating.”

The shop is run out of the various team members’ apartments, leading to a very personable and intimate environment for customers and cementing the brand’s image as a welcoming and easy to shop at thrift store. 

Though the team is still in the early stages of their business ventures, Ciclo has already taught both Artiles and Marazzo a great deal about working in the sustainability industry.

“It is amazing to take a step back and realize all the things you have learned even when you feel like you’re flying by the seat of your pants,” Marazzo says. 

Make sure to use Stitch’s code (STITCH20) for all your Ciclo purchases!