Thrilling, an online vintage marketplace run by black and women, connects shoppers with nearly 1,000 independent vintage boutiques across the country. Founders Shilla Kim-Parker and Brad Mallow launched Thrilling in 2018 with the goal of improving women- and POC-owned vintage boutiques. Today, they announce the launch of their Studio Services program, which will allow industry creatives like costume designers and stylists to expand their resources for TV and film projects while supporting small businesses in over 200 cities across the US.

To celebrate the launch, Thrilling has partnered with Oscar-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter as its first ambassador and announced a campaign highlighting Thrilling's work. Carter is known for her work on films such as "Black Panther," "Malcolm X," and "Do the Right Thing."

Kim Parker says the Studio Services program was born out of the idea of connecting and helping creators. Vintage is a market that many costume designers and stylists want to source, she notes, but the logistics of tight deadlines and exhausting local resources sometimes bring the search to a standstill. It was a natural, organic idea," she says.

"So that storytellers could more easily access vintage, support independent stores, and help the planet.

Launching with Carter was a dream come true for Kim Parker. She said, "All of us at Thrilling, Inc. have been nurtured by the visual aesthetic and cultural language that Ruth has defined over the decades. I think we all screamed when she answered our call. [When asked why vintage is an integral part of her costume design, Cartier replied: "You can't make it up. Because it's real. Fabrics don't exist anymore. Fabrics are a study in time and place."

Carter, once a vintage power-seller himself ("I love vintage!) ), I'm very excited to expand our costume sourcing resources with discoverable boutiques through the Thrilling platform." We have many go-to places, but over the years, their collections are not always updated. This portal is constantly being refreshed.

Thrilling's average shopper is 1,200 miles away from the physical store where they make their purchases, helping creators like Carter, whose television and film productions are primarily coastal, to expand their horizons. Kim Parker sees value in helping small businesses that don't get the attention they deserve because of their location. She says, "We're trying to bring new customers into these stores, support their livelihoods, and help them survive and thrive. We believe that the survival of these local vintage stores and sellers is critical to the culture and economy of these local communities."

The campaign is a "new way for the community to support the local economy.

To see the full campaign, visit Thrilling to learn more about the Studio Services program.