How this Gen-Z goth girl makes millions reviving ‘mall rat’ fashion

Bella McFadden is taking her fashions from URL to IRL.

The 28-year-year old Canadian nearly broke the internet in 2020 when she became the first person to earn more than $1 million in sales on Depop, the go-to Gen Z platform to buy used and vintage clothing. Now, she’s opened her first-ever brick-and-mortar shop, iGirl, on the Lower East Side. It sells both vintages duds — mostly Y2K era — as wells as corsets, charm bracelets, fishnets and chokers that McFadden designs herself.

“I love the whole mall goth era from the late 90’s early 2000’s,” McFadden told The Post .

In 2017, at age 20, dropped out of college in Canada to start iGirl, a brand that mixes thrift store finds with her own designs, such as a $25 silver heart pendant engraved with “iGirl” on the front and “Please Return to Heaven” on the back that’s been a hit.

Living at home in Winnipeg, she quickly grew the business into a “cyber styling service” where customers would send over their measurements and astrology sign, and she would source and sell them custom “theme” looks , such as “Mall Goth;” or “Teen Witch.”

The service was a hit, especially with “people who want to dress vintage but are a little more on the basic side,” she said. Soon, she was fielding 30 orders a day for custom styling.

“I had an entire boutique in my apartment – six racks of clothes. I’d be shopping all the time and shopping for people’s measurements. They would send me their bust, waist, in-seam and I would cater to that. It took a lot of thought and energy,” she said

Things took off further when she start posting shopping tips on her YouTube channel, @InternetGirl, which now has nearly 140,000 followers. 

By 2018, she’d saved up enough money to move out of her parents’ home and settle in Los Angeles. By 2020, McFadden became the first-ever seller to earn $1.26 million on Depop, with Fast Company reporting her sales surged 146% since the pandemic lockdown. 

“I’m working harder than ever,” she told Fast Company at the time. 

But New York, she said, has always been the goal. She moved to the East Village last fall with dreams of opening the store.

“After doing online for so many years I was bored,” she said.

She turned a former pawn shop into what she calls a “pink little dream” complete with a black-and-white tiled floor.

McFadden, who counts Elon Musk’s baby mama Grimes and rapper Doja Cat as fans, is excited to meet her customers in real life.

“It’s been a lot of people saying ‘I followed you in the early Depop days; I grew up on your YouTube. I’ve gotten a lot of love online but in person is a whole other ballgame.”

The stores is currently stocked with vintage logo tees from brands such as Guess and Le Chateau, plaid pleated mini skirts and accessories such as chokers, handbags, headbands and cuffs. Many items are priced under $100.

“I’m always taking into account current trends, evolving,” she said.

While opening the shop is a dream come true, building the biz was hardly an overnight success, McFadden said.

“I sold 10 [iGirl pendants] the first day I dropped them, now I’ve sold probably over 20,000,” she said. “Things take time.”