California Lutheran University alumna Kimberly Lee, a former marketing communication and film and television major, created her own fashion market, Lucky Stars Market, at the end of 2021, stemming from her clothing business she began in 2020. Lee was Senate Director for Associated Students California Lutheran University Government (ASCLUG) in her last year at Cal Lutheran as well as a senator all four years. She was President and founder of Fashion club here at Cal Lutheran as well.

“When being a part of a fashion club and just seeing how the costume department worked as well as just learning more about fashion in my own time, it was really interesting combining both film and marketing into one. For me, it helped a lot with getting started,” Lee said.

Once Lee graduated in 2020 she realized that she needed to have some time for herself to figure out what she actually wanted to do. 

While starting TikTok during the pandemic, Lee realized that she wanted to continue to post fashion TikToks which eventually blew up during the summer of 2020.

“My content was mostly focused on thrifting. And so a lot of people asked me to sell clothes. So I started selling my clothes on Instagram,” Lee said. “I sold for the first time in person  in December 2020. I spent pretty much all of 2021 selling at swap meets pretty much exclusively.” 

Lucky Stars came about to Lee through the thought of wanting to sell more of her clothes and be involved like those at Buffalo Exchange which is a thrift clothing store. Lee has always thought those people were the coolest people in high school. 

Lucky Stars wasn’t her first market event, “We had our first market for Lucky Stars in December. And I really do think the reason why it was a success in the first place was because of the marketing, that I did for it,” Lee said.

Once she got started she decided to push herself beside her friends to open her own market that protitorized women, queer, and people of color. 

“The markets in San Diego were not really a space for young people to feel accepted, safe, and prioritized,” Lee said. 

Anna Garcia will be one of the vendors at Lucky Stars market on Feb. 13, 2022 where she will have a curated selection of clothing exclusive to Lucky Stars. 

Garcia and Lee immediately connected and became friends.

“The first time I saw Kim was on my TikTok was on my for you page where she put out a lot of ‘how I picked out my outfit’ videos on that platform,” Garcia said. 

Garcia was inspired by pop culture, music, and art. She is also the first generation in the family to be born in the U.S. 

“A lot of my drive in finding one of a kind vintage 90’s-2000’s pieces is rooted in the fact that I didn’t feel like I could fully participate in those fashion trends growing up due to our socioeconomic status,” Garcia said.

Two of the classes Lee took were Event Planning and Public Relations here at Cal Lutheran with Tom Smith and Jean Sandlin, as well as classes with Sharon Doctor. 

“I feel like I learned so much. The foundation of those classes really did help me. I wasn’t completely lost when I was starting this market, but obviously you need people to know about your market to come to it. So I did in fact look back at my notes from those classes,” Lee said. 

Claire Boy was born and raised in California. “I originally saw Kim on TikTok and loved her content and finally met Kim through vending at another San Diego market.” Boy said. 

Boy sells her own pieces such as Y2K and 90’s girls pieces. 

“I resell clothes both in person at events and on Depop for a living. I got started back in April 2020 when we went into lockdown and I had just quit my job to go to school,” Boy said. 

Boy was jobless and still needed to pay bills, so she started selling her clothes on Depop and it just took off from there.

“I love what I do because I’m able to work for myself and knowing that all of my hard work goes directly into my business is amazing! I work long days, but I love it and wouldn’t change it for anything. It’s so inspiring to see other women owned businesses thrive,” Boy said. 

Lee has met many people through thrifting as well as swap meets in San Diego. On Saturday, Feb. 13, 2022, Lee and Lucky Stars Market hosted their second market event in San Diego. 

To see more of Kimberly Lee and Lucky Stars Market content, visit their Instagram and TikTok accounts at @kimberyeet and @luckystarsmarket.