Rainbow swap shop filling market gap

A NEW kind of thrift shop has opened up in Sebastopol.

After almost three years of selling second-hand clothes with the aim of helping transgender and gender-diverse people in their transitions,

Renea Johnson now has a brick-and-mortar outlet for her Rainbow Rack initiative.

Launched late last month following financial support from the community and organisations including Transgender Victoria, Ms Johnson said the store is a huge improvement over her previous offering.

“My daughter and I had been running our trans and gender-diverse swap shop from our garage where you had to make private appointments,” she said.

“The garage was packed in to a double-car set-up with custom-made racks and it was a lot. Now, you come in and it’s pretty, welcoming, and there’s light coming in, whereas a garage is still a garage.”

Beginning out of their home at Lake Wendouree followed by Lake Gardens, Ms Johnson said their previous arrangement had become unfeasible.

“We had to move to Winter Valley and no one could get to us,” she said.

“So, I’d be picking up strangers after 6pm at night to take them to my garage.

“We had one person walk six kilometres for an appointment. It was crazy.”

The original initiative, sparked by Ms Johnson and her transgender daughter Charlotte, was inspired by Ms Johnson’s mother who passed away during the pandemic and encouraged them to donate all her clothing to people in need.

The project’s mobile swap shop, which pops up at events throughout Victoria including Daylesford’s ChillOut, will continue to operate.

The majority of clothing is under $10 while LGBTIQA+ community members are eligible for discounts and a special membership.

“It’s very expensive when you’re transitioning,” she said. “You have to have a whole new wardrobe and you’re still finding out who you are.

“One week, you might like old fashioned 50s style, the next week you might want to go punk.

“You don’t want to go buy new clothes every week, so we wanted to make sure all trans and gender-diverse people have access to shoes, clothing, accessories.

“Anyone can come in, but to be able to grab anything from K-Mart to Jimmy Choo for under $10, it’s all about looking after the trans and gender-diverse community first and foremost.”

Ms Johnson estimated Rainbow Rack is the first thrift shop of its kind in regional Victoria, and hopes similar stores can emerge elsewhere in Australia.

Rainbow Rack is located at 206A Albert Street, Sebastopol and open 10am to 4pm on Wednesdays to Saturdays.