Afterglow Won't Be an Afterthought in the Vintage Footwear Scene

Love them or hate them, vintage shoes are making a comeback. However, finding them requires hours of meticulous online searching and regularly scanning thrift store shelves. Fortunately, Chahrazed Chebel fell in love with the process. Passionate about fashion, thrifting and selling her finds online, she found herself at a crossroads with the opportunity to turn her hobby into a full-time job. Taking a leap luckily paid off, leading to the creation of Afterglow, the Paris-based '90s and '00s archive shop.

In just a couple of years, Chebel has already built quite the following and sourced and sold hundreds of rare vintage shoes, from PUMA Mostro to the beloved Nike Total 90’s. Her client list is worldwide, with customers in Singapore, Korea, Japan, the U.S., and across Europe. Impressively, this list includes musical talents and style icons like Ayra Star and Doja Cat.

In our latest instalment of Baes with Kicks, we chat with Chebel about her career shift into fashion, her love for vintage finds and how that passion evolved into a store. We also discuss the thrill of the chase of the sourcing process and how Afterglow is more than just a store—it's a deep dive into the history of the shoes that defined the naughties.

Name: Chahrazed Chebel

Location: Paris, France

Occupation: Co-Founder of Afterglow

When did your love for vintage clothing and footwear begin?

When COVID hit, I was working from home so, I was online a lot. I've always been interested in secondhand but, when I lived in Canada, I could never find clothes that fit my style. We didn't have big brands; there wasn't even a Nike shop back then. We had to go to multi-brand shops to find Nike, making it super hard to find fashion that was a little bit edgier. So, I turned to thrift shops. I loved it so much I would spend hours there.

When I moved to Paris, thrifting was so much better. Whenever I had some free time, I would go thrifting. More and more online marketplaces were opening up, and I shopped on those, too. Sometimes, I would go on Depop, but I always felt the clothes were overpriced for what they were and that I could find them myself.

When and why did you start Afterglow?

As I kept exploring and buying from secondhand marketplaces, I thought, why not sell some of the nice items I had but didn't wear? So, I began selling on Depop, and people really liked my selection. I would sell things like Afghan coats and they would sell instantly; this gave me a sense of purpose. I began sourcing more items, meeting up with older ladies in Paris who would sell me their pieces, and then I'd resell them. As time went by, my work contract was ending, and with COVID, I didn't know what I was going to do. I was worried about making ends meet financially since I wasn't paying my rent with the Depop money; it was just for fun. Then, I talked to my boyfriend, who is now my husband, and he said, "You should really pursue this because it's something you love, and maybe you could make a living from it." My husband had a background in sneakers, so he knew more about this industry than I did. Working together helped me elevate the store to a more professional level.

How did the name Afterglow come about?

I wish I had a deep story to tell about the name. It was really just me looking into names and wanting to find something a bit more timeless, something without the word "vintage" in it. What we sell is always changing and evolving, so I didn't want a name that would reference any specific trends. I wanted something neutral that would inspire a more ethereal feeling. When I came across the word "afterglow," it gave me a warm, nostalgic feeling.

What we're selling now is more about the story behind the items than the items themselves. The designs are really nice, but I know that people love having something that's 20 or 30 years old and being able to say, "Oh, my shoes are from 2002, from that creative hub Puma had in the early '00s." It's more about the story, so I wanted the name to be more abstract and almost blurry to represent that.

What has it been like growing a small business so far?

Once we decided on the name, we didn't have time to think twice; we just went with it. We didn't even have time to focus much on creative direction or hiring a creative director initially. People were asking for items, so our main focus was sourcing. However, we don't like to source in bulk. We handpick every single item we sell, which is very time-consuming. When we find something we like, trying to find a second or third pair can be really hard. We can spend up to a week searching for a specific pair of boots, especially if they were limited edition. But to us, it's worth it because we view Afterglow as an art gallery, where every item has a story behind it. We want people to be inspired by our collection, even if they don't make a purchase.

The Puma Mostro was a hit for your shop. Can you tell us more about that?

My husband was reminiscing about the Mostros he had as a teenager, saying they were the shoes everyone wanted. We decided to buy a few pairs in women's sizes, and they sold instantly. Every time we got more, they sold out just as quickly.

This led us to dive deeper into PUMA's history and archives. Learning about their early '00s creative hub was fascinating. They basically gave designers total creative freedom. Designers from Germany, Japan, the U.S. and other places drew inspiration from their environments, so their designs had a very experimental feel to them. We discovered so many models we had never heard of, some of which only appeared in one collection and never came back. It was such a revolutionary time for the brand that not many people know about.

Not long ago you had the opportunity to source multiple pairs of shoes for Doja Cat. What was that experience like?

It started last fall when we got an email from Doja's stylist. We received a brief mentioning that the shoes would be for her world tour, and we were like, "Oh my god, this is crazy!" But, quickly the stress kicked in because we can never guarantee specific vintage shoes, let alone multiple pairs. However, when Doja Cat asks for something, you have to find it because it's an opportunity that might never come around again.

So, we chose different items from our stock, and our suppliers sent us more items. We made a selection, and her stylist sent it to Doja for her to choose from. They came back and ordered seven pairs. The second time, Doja DM'd us directly on Instagram, saying, "These are so cool, could you get me these?" But that pair had sold instantly. We were like, "Oh no, it's sold, how are we going to say no to Doja Cat?" That experience highlighted how we work. We wish we could have found that pair for her, but we never did.

We often have only one day to send a whole selection, and then we have to send it very fast. That's the most difficult part of working with talent. But, her stylist and team were the best! What touched me the most is that they understood and respected that we're just a small business doing the best with what we have.

You recently dropped a really rare collection of Onitsuka Tiger Ensemble 59's. How did you get your hands on them?

I had my eyes on the model for a while, but they were impossible to find here in Europe. We searched everywhere for just one pair. I had seen them online somewhere and actually contacted some of the designers in Japan to try to find out the release date and if there were any pairs being sold. We looked online on Reddit, on Quora, literally everywhere, but no one knew the exact release date. Then, one of the designers we contacted said, "I have like five or six pairs, would you be interested?" And we said, "Yes, obviously!"

What has been one of your favorite customer experiences so far?

We sold a pair of boxing boots to a wrestler—a real wrestler! I said to her, "Please tell me you are going to wear them for a fight," and she said she would be. She later messaged us saying the boots were incredible, the comfort was insane and the quality was on another level. They didn't move at all during the match. It was amazing to see that a pair of vintage Puma boots were just as good for performance as they were for fashion. All of the work we put into sourcing shoes is worth it when we see how happy it makes our customers.

What are your plans for the future of Afterglow?

We're going to focus more on the creative direction of the shop. We really want to take it to the next level and are currently in talks with creative people here in Paris and the US. We want to create something that is very authentic to us but also timeless, because we don't want to be everywhere and constantly in people's faces. It's not about being low key, but what we do is very niche, and we want our brand to stay true to that.

We also want to have more stock because we often find ourselves behind on customer requests. We're currently working from home, so we'd like to have a showroom and pop-up shops during fashion week. We're working towards that in the coming months.

We think working with brands would be exciting too, not necessarily in the design process, but more in consulting. With our expertise in vintage fashion and their archives, we feel we have valuable knowledge to offer. We are continuously expanding our expertise through our research, and to collaborate with brands on that level would be really fun.

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