Fun—not fast—fashion with a maximalist aesthetic at Launch
Meet the seamstress, fashion fan, and passionate thrifter who's taken over one of Sebastopol's longtime secondhand clothing stores
Alaisa Barone became the owner of Sebastopol’s beloved Launch Recycled Clothing more than a year and a half ago when she was just 24 years old. She brought to her new venture her love of fashion and thrifting and her expert skills as a seamstress.
“I had always wanted to thrift for a living and have some type of business, but never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that it would actually be able to happen—especially not a whole store,” Barone said.
Launch was opened in 2002 by local recycled clothing entrepreneur Shana Barrett (recently of Lucky Roots Clothing). She sold it to Nica Rice, who ran it for several years until she transferred ownership to Barone in January 2025. Each owner put their own personal stamp on the place.
Barone has taken the look and feel of the store in a new, bolder direction.
“I love color, I love saturation. I just want people to see something interesting at every turn. I know everybody has different tastes, and I think that minimalism is kind of rearing its head a little bit right now, but I’m so the opposite. I’m a maximalist at heart.”
In terms of the clothing, she said, “I feel like it reflects a lot of my personal taste and my personal style. I love like really unique and weird and quirky clothing.” But the store carries a whole range of items, including brands like Anthropologie, Free People, J.Crew, and denim from Citizens of Humanity, Mother, and Paige. The aesthetic is youthful, colorful and joyful.
“I want this to be a store that anybody can go in and find something from men’s to women’s, to crazy festival wear to really nice high-quality basics. My focus has been, I think, less on brands and more so on expanding the demographic that I can reach.”
“For me, as a plus-size person, I’ve always found it really hard to find clothes at curated thrift stores. Like, there’s not like a ton of options just out there period for cute plus-size clothing that has nice quality fabrics. So that was a really big thing that I wanted to incorporate into the business model was a plus-size section for anybody of any size to be able to come in and find something that is super cute and unique that they’re not going to find somewhere else.”
That said, most of the store is not plus-sized. Barone said she carries everything from extra-small to 4xl.
Right now, in addition to all the mixed racks of clothing, there’s a whole wall of beautiful linen wear. As the season changes, that’ll change to other interesting natural fabrics: silk and cashmere.
Where does she get her clothes?
“Everywhere,” she said with a laugh. “I buy from the public on weekends. So on Saturdays and Sundays, people can come in and bring in like two or three grocery-sized bags of clothes in good condition. We do have specific brands that we’re looking for, plus natural fibers are always good, and ’90s and Y2K vintage. When people ask if I take vintage, I tell them I take sexy vintage, like the really cute stuff that is timeless. So I get a portion of clothes from the public, and then I also source clothes from thrift stores all across Sonoma County.”
“I’ve always loved thrifting,” she said. “I started thrifting with my dad when I was a kid, at the time when it wasn’t cool to get clothes secondhand from Goodwill.”
Barone, who grew up in Petaluma, said she spent the first year getting on top of the business part of running a small business. Now that that’s running smoothly, she has more time to do what she really loves, which includes upcycling (i.e., using her sewing skills to improve or add a new creative touch to a piece of clothing). This is part of what gives this store its handmade charm.
She said that sometimes she finds a beautiful but damaged item when she’s thrifting — like a high-quality cashmere sweater with a hole in it. “Something that would otherwise probably go to the landfill because nobody’s gonna buy like a sweater with holes in it. So I take it, and I darn it and add flowers and make it look unique and fun, and then sell it here.”
Sometimes this upcycling is more dramatic.
“Like I’ll take two items and make it one item,” she said. “I’ve been really passionate about eliminating as much waste as possible, and using all the scraps that I accumulate to make garments and accents out of all this material that I have left over…I want to get a really nice collection of upcycled items to start a portion of the store for specifically upcycled and repaired garments.”
Barone, who has been sewing since she was a child, also does regular alterations for clients. Before she acquired the store, she ran her own mobile alterations business. She has a large back room, visible from the store, that’s completely dedicated to alterations. Right now, she said, her business model is two-thirds retail, one-third alterations.
“Eventually, I want to get to the point where I can be making garments from scratch and selling my own designs,” she said.
In the meantime, if you haven’t seen Launch in its newest iteration, it’s well worth a visit. Barone’s joy is contagious.
You can find Launch Recycled Clothing at 961 South Gravenstein Highway (across from Fircrest Market). She also has a very fun and playful Instagram.
