UMD Undergrads Launch Vyne: App Promoting Sustainable Fashion

Swipe right for yes and left for no. Vyne, an app launched earlier this month by two University of Maryland students, combines this familiar dating app approach with thrifting.

The app, exclusively available at UMD, allows students to snap a picture of an item they’d like to sell before potential buyers swipe left or right until they discover items they’d like to purchase. Once they swipe right, they enter a chat with the seller where they can discuss the item and sale.

Co-founders Shaurya Saran and Vaughn Hatfield, both junior computer science majors, love to thrift but realized other thrifting apps were too tedious.

“It was inconvenient to use [other apps] because if I were to sell a $7 shirt, I wouldn’t want to box it up and go and ship it out,” Saran said.

If no one buys a seller’s clothes within 30 days, Saran and Hatfield volunteer to pick up the items free of charge and donate them to a local organization.

The app also partners with other local businesses—including student-run and university-centered shops such as Old Town New Clothes, Thrift at UMD and UMD Fit Check—allowing students to buy from and support one another.

“Having a sustainable fashion trend throughout campus would really limit the amount of clothes or any stuff in general, just going to waste,” Saran said. “You can make an opportunity and get monetized and get some money from it—so it’s kind of a win-win situation.”

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