It’s Not a Jacket, It’s an Investment
As appreciation for high fashion from the past continues to grow, stylish women who would blanch at being called “Second Hand Rose” have been paying stunning prices at auction houses, vintage stores and resale shops for pre-worn clothes.
In a relative sense, there are bargains to be had. You could take home a mint-condition Chanel jacket from the late ‘80s originally priced at more than $2,000 for $700 from a boutique that specializes in rarefied recycling.
But a yen for a great deal isn’t what drives the market for old clothes. For collectors who perceive fashion as art, acquiring an early Jean-Paul Gaultier is as significant as owning a blue period Picasso or a bootleg Springsteen tape from the Jersey years: Each work of art illustrates the artist’s development and contributes to an understanding of his metier.
The recently opened Maxfield Bleu store on Robertson Boulevard in Beverly Hills is hog heaven for men and women interested in specific designers’ bodies of work. It houses 25 years’ worth of carefully selected unsold clothes that have traveled from Maxfield’s main store on Melrose Avenue into owner Tommy Perske’s archives and now to the racks of the open, well-lit new shop in Beverly Hills.
Maxfield was one of the first local specialty stores to showcase avant-garde international fashion. In the ‘70s it was known as the black store because it championed Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garcons and other Japanese designers whose palettes ranged from ink to coal. In the ‘80s, Maxfield became the entertainment industry’s Gap: the place to go to get dressed.
After the twice-a-year sales, Perske kept the leftover stock instead of turning it over to jobbers to sell to discount outlets like Loehmann’s. So the never-worn outfits by Yohji Yamamoto, Herve Leger, Azzedine Alaia, John Galliano, Romeo Gigli, Christian Lacroix, Matsuda, Jil Sander, Dolce & Gabbana and Issey Miyake that fill Maxfield Bleu have been marked down a minimum of 50% of their original cost. A $285 Dries Van Noten sweater sells for $119; a Gaultier jacket, once $1,410, is $489.
“Designers like Jil Sander and Rei Kawakubo are really timeless,” says Kay Truszkowski, Maxfield women’s buyer. “You can look at some of the things they did 20 years ago and see they’re being copied today. Some customers want to own the original, and the quality and workmanship make them real collector’s items.”
Isn’t It Ironic? Just as the field of active sportswear becomes crowded with designers known more for high style than play clothes, amateur athletes without endorsement deals are shying away from obvious logos and experimenting with ways to look different when they work out.
Even though Giorgio Armani, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger and DKNY make attractive ski clothes, the most striking women seen recently on Aspen Mountain put together outfits using items never meant for the slopes. Leather vests were popular under jackets, as were stretch corduroy pants and Gucci belts slung low on unitards.
Of course, much of the ski-themed sportswear in the stores isn’t necessarily designed for skiers. Just because a parka is puffy and pretty doesn’t mean it’s warm, offers the range of motion a real skier requires or packs enough pockets for handkerchiefs, power bars, sunscreen and other essentials.
