Steph Joseph
Steph Joseph is an executive producer and event curator who lives in Detroit’s West Village neighborhood. She and her pitbull, Scraps, hosted us in her apartment for a chat over brunch. She made us a quiche, and Scraps sat patiently at her feet for the entire interview.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length, but it is still relatively long. For shorter snippets, screenshottable quotes, and additional content, check out our IG.
For those who like to read, enjoy.
Find Steph on IG here.
Nick: Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get here?
Steph: I currently live in the West Village in Detroit. I moved here after graduating. I went to school for marketing. I thought I would go to New York or LA after that but I traveled after graduating. I went to Europe with a friend for almost two months. We went all over the place. I came back and got a job in Birmingham. It was very short. I did not like it. And then I got the job at StockX, which I loved.
Once I moved to Detroit, I fell in love with it and continued to meet people. I just felt like it was just such a cool scene.
N: What’s kept you in Detroit?
S: I think the community, I feel very rooted here. I feel really comfortable and the creativity has felt very collaborative.
I've really liked the ability to throw these events and these markets and have access to the buildings I do. To be able to do things and have a community that's so close. I feel very at home here.
N: When did you start throwing events?
S: The first market I did was the Garden Party here. We had eight vendors. It was really tiny but we had a dj and we had cocktails. I didn't expect to have the turnout that we did, but it was a vibe. I have so much nostalgia for that one because things went so well. That was what gave me the confidence. That was the initial jumping off point. That was when I was like, “I can throw events.” I can do this. It was ripping off the bandaid.
Then last year I was approached by a producer at Mean Red who bought a building in New Center, by my office. They wanted to start a market there and they gave me full control to curate the whole thing in their space.
“That's what I love to do. I want to celebrate people. I want to bring people together in a space that I've put together.“
N: What kind of markets are you running events for?
S: It started out mainly vintage, but then it became any curated local vendor. So it was a bunch of different small businesses but primarily vintage clothing.
I did 12 of those, and it was awesome. They were really successful. It was what I was looking forward to doing every month.
E: How would you describe the vintage scene in Detroit?
S: It's good. I think it still needs to grow and I think it will. There's definitely a lot of good sellers here that have very curated collections. But I think what we need is more of that. I want more variety.
N: Are you still selling quite a bit?
S: I put all of my vintage into a shipping crate in Core City, so myself and two other vintage sellers have crates there. It became kind of a thing last summer where we’d host these guerilla vintage markets. We’d just put our stuff out and we’d get music, drinks, other vendors to pop up.
Those were amazing. They were so awesome. My goal for this summer is to be more consistent there. The big opening for that is May 19th; we're going to have a big vintage block party there.
N: What kind of music are you listening to right now?
S: I listen to SZA every single day. I've also been listening to Olivia Dean lately. I am obsessed with this chick. Her album came out at the end of last year.
E: Wait, tell us about Swim Club.
S: It's the most wonderful thing. It’s every Friday on Belle Isle. It starts at 7:00 AM. You don't have to stay the whole time. You come, you dip, you have some coffee and you bounce.
N: You are such a gatherer.
S: Oh my God. I think if I could pin it, that's what I love to do. I want to celebrate people. I want to bring people together in a space that I've put together. Like for the Garden Party, there'd be times when it would be going on and I would come up here and look at it from the balcony and like, I love it. I just want to see people enjoying it.
N: Yeah, that's got to be fulfilling. Standing out there and watching people you’ve gathered having a great time at an event you put a ton of work into.
S: It's really great. And I love it. I love to cook for people, I love to put things together for people.
N: That's sick. You're a host. So what’s going on next? What are you doing on the 18th?
S: May 18th I will be popping up a market at Cadieux Cafe. They have a beautiful patio and I did her market last year in October. I didn't expect to sell anything, but I killed it.
I had this one jacket that I didn’t want to part ways with, one of my first jackets that I ever thrifted. It was a red leather trench lined with red feathers. It was beautiful. I didn’t intend to sell it. But this grandmother picks it up and she’s like, “I had one of these in the eighties.” She put it on and she was like, “I have to get it.” Sold.
I did so well. I’m excited to go back. Hopefully it’s the same.
N: I love that. Tell us more about the market on the 19th too.
S: The 19th is going to be the vintage block party at the containers, which will be really exciting. So myself, the Velvet Tower, her name's Emily. She has two crates and she's been a big vintage seller for years. And then our friend Lawrence, who's Flint Vintage has one next to her.
N: Busy weekend, huh? Do you have a morning routine?
S: Oh yeah.
N: Tell us.
S: So I get up. My alarm goes off, [Scraps] sleeps in his own bed, but when my alarm goes off, he knows I let him get in the bed. He goes under the covers and then I get out. So he's passed out. I like to then immediately shower, and then “Robe Time” as I call it. And then I go and then I make my tea and I make my breakfast. I like to get up extra early before I have to do anything. I need to be in silence and eat. So I come out here, I eat my breakfast, completely quiet. And then I will get dressed and then get him up and then we go on a walk.
N: Nice. So clothing wise, are you exclusively a vintage enjoyer? Or are there brands that you're really digging right now?
S: I’ve never been into brands, aside from sneakers. Once I started vintage shopping, I was like, “Oh, I can recreated the looks I love.” It’s a much more sustainable approach. I’ve found the most insane pieces over the years. What I absolutely love most, is the fact that I'm not going to be wearing something somebody else has.
I have this goal though, I don't know if it's actually realistic for me, but I hope to be a little bit more minimalist. Fashion is such a love and hobby of mine. How do you do minimalism in that? I want to be sustainable, not buying clothes all of the time, not having so much. But I love it. I enjoy doing it and I really love it.
N: Yeah, the minimalism thing is hard. Basically the real idea of minimalism is like, you don't think about this anymore. You know? You don't actually do this anymore. Couldn't be me, right?
S: No, same here. I love clothes. I absolutely love it. The amount of time that I spend on Pinterest or Depop, simply looking at outfits and clothes all day is absurd.
N: Okay, final question. What's your favorite thing in this space?
S: My favorite thing? Scraps. Yeah. Easy.