“I’ve been thrifting my whole life,” says Evie Mollow, 16. “I would go with my mom and find all these nice clothes I could find in a store, but they were second-hand. And I’ve wanted to make a business out of it, because my friends would tell me, ‘I want you to thrift for me — you always find the right stuff!’”

Now, Evie has put her knack for great thrift shop fashion finds to work as a business that’s also in the business of assisting local non-profits. The Branford High School (BHS) senior runs “The Rack,” a pop-up clothing and accessories shop, which has as its tagline “Thrifting for a Cause.”

Evie collaborates with local non-profits to include items she’ll sell to help their cause during sales at her temporary pop-up shop sites. Then, she promotes the upcoming pop-up dates at her shop’s website and Instagram (@eviem.therack), while the non-profit pitches in with its own social media notifications.

Each pop-up shop features Evie’s latest additions to her growing inventory, among which are some unbelievable vintage finds and recognizable fashion house labels. But what also sets The Rack apart is Evie’s great eye and ability to curate its merchandise. She’s done the work of thrift shop hunting for the customer, who can get right to the excitement of grabbing a great find. Evie hopes the experience will also encourage more people to consider finding their clothes at thrift shops, both for the thrill and the sustainability it can provide.

“I had a thought to have it as a website at first, but I want people to experience thrifting,” says Evie of constructing plans for The Rack. “People who don’t usually do it, it’s a good step towards it.”

At The Rack “....you come and find these clothes you wouldn’t normally find; and it's just in one area, so it’s easy to find. I also had the idea of a pop-up because online, you can’t feel stuff and try stuff on. So I thought a pop-up would be great idea.”

She also feels good about wearing and sharing clothes that have been given a second life.

“It makes me feel better about myself, knowing that I’m reusing clothes instead of buying new ones. It just makes the world a better place.”

Evie also likes to include plenty of clothes which can be worn equally well by anyone.

“I don’t really gender the clothes so much; I just put them on racks as nice clothes,” says Evie, adding, “I wear a lot of men’s pants, sweaters, and jackets because I like how they look.”

The Rack also has accessories on display – jewelry, bags, and more — together with a special section of donated clothing and items for sale on behalf of the shop’s selected non-profit beneficiary. Sales of all special section items benefit the non-profit.

News about Evie’s efforts first popped up in October, when she set up The Rack inside Samantha Smith’s unique, pop-up-oriented venue space, Gather, located in a Branford storefront at 1048 Main Street.

For three days, from Oct. 7 through Oct. 9, customers could visit The Rack at Gather, where Evie’s fun, funky, and fashionable attire was offered alongside a special section of gently used women’s business wear, collected in collaboration with non-profit Women and Family Life Center (WFLC).

Based in Guilford, WFLC programs serve 16 towns along the shoreline, including Branford and North Branford.

“I wanted to work with Women and Family Life Center because they’ve helped my family a lot,” says Evie. “I really liked the idea of having people donate women’s business clothes, and I wanted people to be able get them so they can feel confident about themselves if they’re finding a new job, [and] to be able to give the profits from those clothes to the Women and Family Life Center.”

By the time she’d rung up the final sale, Evie had raised $514 for WFLC.

In planning her next pop-up shop dates, Evie collaborated with Judy Barron, executive director of Community Dining Room of Branford. The Rack’s two-day pop-up shop was organized for Saturday, Nov. 19 and Sunday, Nov. 20 (after press time for this story). Evie planned to set up The Rack inside the dining room at CDR on Harrison Avenue, including a special section of donated clothes on sale to raise funds for CDR programs and needs. CDR has recently refined its support area to serve the towns of Branford, North Branford, East Haven, and Guilford.

“I wanted to help Community Dining Room because I volunteered with them with my mom for so long, and I love them!” says Evie. “I had a job with them in the summer, working with fundraising events. It was fun, and it taught me a lot. I’m excited to be working with them again.”

Evie has plans for other, upcoming pop-up events to benefit local causes, including those she’s working on for December and January. More details will be posted at The Rack’s Instagram page and website (https://star-caterpillar-fstm.squarespace.com/).

Evie also notes she gets a great assist from several friends to help complete each shop’s atmosphere. Among them are Alec Pedersen, a junior at the New Haven Academy who played his acoustic guitar to add live music to her October pop-up, and Finn Wikstrom, a BHS sophomore and Educational Center for the Arts (New Haven) student who creates hand-painted tote bags for Evie’s inventory and offers customers tarot card readings.

“Having Alec playing was such a nice experience for everybody. Finn’s such a good artist, and the tarot cards were a hit!” says Evie of her October event.

Amidst all of her efforts on behalf of The Rack and local non-profits, Evie’s also working on completing college applications. She hopes to study the fashion business in college and is applying to several schools, including her first choice, Toronto Metropolitan University (Canada).

Working together with Smith at Gather, Evie is also currently collaborating on an idea to encourage future BHS students to try their hand at pulling together a pop-up shop. They've sent an email inquiry about developing an entrepreneur internship at BHS, where students would have an experience planning, merchandising, promoting, and working at their own pop-up shop at Gather.

Evie would also welcome another BHS student carrying on the idea of developing a pop-up shop like The Rack to help assist local causes.

“I would love to pass this down to someone who’s younger than me,” says Evie.