Young People Are In Love With Fashion Collections. Business Opportunities In This Field Are Breaking Out.

Sandy Schreier has a wardrobe, and its baby is enough for fashion lovers to apply for a two mortgage loan.
One of them is the exquisite silk chiffon evening dress designed by Pierre Balmain in 1957. The other is a custom dress from the hands of Christian Dior in the same period, adorned with satin ball decorations, which is very suitable for Princess Disney world. A large headed ornament made of colorful butterfly Festival is the work of designer Philip Treacy in 2003, and the purple velvet hat decorated with mink and floret is the masterpiece of Jeanne Lanvin 1915.
In addition, she also owns the Valentino suit that once belonged to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and the silver Roberto Rojas mini skirt worn by Twiggy when she took the photo for Vogue in 1967.
Schreier comes from Detroit, and her neighbors are rich families born in the prosperous era of Detroit's auto industry, such as Ford (Ford), Dodge (Dodge) and Firestone (Firestone) family. She was familiar with their clothes and clothes from childhood, received their gifts, and later acquired them through inheritance. The number of fashion collections she has accumulated is recognized as the most popular private collection in the United States.
Last November, Schreier promised to donate 165 collections to the Metropolitan Museum of Art Clothing Institute, part of which was exhibited in Metropolitan Museum of Art at the end of November.
For Metropolitan Museum of Art, it is fortunate to meet Schreier treasure. Fashion collection was once a popular hobby. Most of the rare collections are sold in cultural relics auction houses. Buyers are few wealthy collectors or little known professional textile or costume museums.
However, competition for rare collections is heating up. Today, the Metropolitan Museum faces rivals from not only museums but also start-ups and consumers who are backed by venture capital. Everyone is eager to get involved in the field of fashion collection. In addition, because of the emergence of a large number of new websites and applications, it is much easier to get rare collections than ever before.
"We often compete for a collection with private collectors," said Jessica Regan, assistant dean of the clothing Institute.
The price of fashion collections has soared by 400% since 2014, according to data collected by Bloomberg from the electronic platform Invaluable, which is based on some 5000 auction houses. A Raf Simons camouflage pilot jacket sold for thousands of dollars in 2001 and is now up to 42 thousand dollars. At the Sotheby's auction last month, a grey wool coat valued at 4000 euros from Margiela ended up at a price of 32 thousand and 500 euros.
In addition, although we still need a lot of cash to get into fashion collectors, the prospect is no longer the same. More and more people believe that fashion can be collected and displayed like artworks or antiques, thus stimulating the needs of museums and serious collectors.
Vogue's famous fashion collectors such as Hamish Bowles and Daphne Guinness now have a large number of young counterparts. The 29 year old David Casavant has been in fashion collection since she was 13 years old. He used the money he inherited to choose second-hand fashion on eBay. Now he has a large collection of goods. Among them, there are many celebrities such as Solange, Lorde, Kim Kardashian, Travis Scott and so on. According to him, the works of Raf Simons and Helmut Lang, the works of Gucci designed by Tom Ford, the works designed by Hedi Slimane for Dior and the works of Yves Slimane are all popular. The new rich in the emerging market areas, especially China, are keen to buy antiques and enrich their wardrobe, and they also have a starting price.
"Many young people are very fond of Collecting fashion. They even have their own private groups on Facebook or Instagram. I think this is due to Kayne or Pharrell. Celebrities never wore "old clothes" decades ago, but Kanye really liked antiques, and since then they have become more and more popular, Casavant said.
Marie Blanchet, the chief executive of William Vintage, a London luxury luxury antique firm, believes that the fashion world is starting to restore its old ways.
She said, "the old collection is really popular now," especially in the Z generation.
Industry competition
According to Blanchet, the most popular collections and museums are John Galliano's works, Christian Dior's works for Saint Laurent, Givenchy's works, Tom Ford's design for Gucci, and works from Tom and Lei.
However, the New Retro works in 1990 and 2000s are attracting more and more attention. Dominik Halas, a 26 year old collector from New York, attributed the trend to the influence of Demna Gvasalia and Martin Margiela.
"In the past, people focused more on T and red carpet, but in the past 5 to 7 years, there has been a growing interest in avant-garde works. This style has introduced young people into the collection world," said Halas, the main collector of Yohji Yamamoto, Comme des Gar ons and Helmut Lang works, Yamamoto Teruji.
Some of these designers have fewer works, and online trading competition is becoming more and more intense.
Since last year, Sotheby's has regularly held online fashion auctions to attract wealthy young buyers. Noah Wunsch, director of e-commerce, said, "the collection of rare products is rare. Nowadays, people collect canvas shoes or street clothes to keep them, but this is not always the case.
Traditional auction houses are stepping up the launching of fashion collections to keep pace with those rising stars. Sotheby began regular auctions for works such as Guo Pei and Martin Margiela and others. Guo Pei
"Nowadays, this area is very busy, so we want to take part in it in a more positive way. Our mission is to become a collector's paradise, and in this era of social media, collectors are constantly changing, "Wunsch said.
1stdibs website brings together about 200 fashion collection sellers from all over the world. The site also sells furniture and other rare antiques, which usually attract buyers by means of freight discounts and analysis. Traders need to go through the audit before joining the platform.
"For these sellers, we are a huge marketing machine. We are constantly mining target groups to find customers they can't reach, "said Cristina Miller, chief business officer of 1stdibs.
1stdibs's online transactions are expected to reach US $300 million this year, but fashion accounts for only a small proportion. This website started in 2001, is a pioneer in this field, but it is by no means the only one. Farfetch and Matchesfashion sell William Vintage orphan. Second hand websites such as Grailed and Vestiaire Collective have also become the collections of fashion collections. The 20 year old Olivia Haroutounian, whose mother runs an antique store in Houston, sells dozens of 80s Chanel suits and Jean Paul Gaultier treasures in the Depop platform, which is popular with the Z generation's collectors.
In 2017, RealReal set up the personal property trust department, sending staff to the collector's home to search for treasure. The treasure they found was a custom made crocodile skin Birkin priced at $36 thousand, and a $8900 old caviar spoon designed by Claude Lalanne.
Karin Dillie, head of the Department, told BoF fashion business commentary that she was rummaging every day in New York's secret closet and California mansion. One of her clients has three walk-in wardrobes, which contain everything from Dior, Hermes to Chanel. One collector has 75 sets of Chanel clothing, and another fashion editor from New York has collected Gucci's rainbow colored casual shoes.
Deep treasure is the key to finding treasure. Blanchet, from William Vintage, has accumulated a wide network of contacts with the collectors in the past as a director of antiques business in Vestiaire Collective. In February, one of her old customers said she had some "McQueen" dresses for sale, which surprised her.
"She has some of the greatest and most important design works I have ever seen in McQueen, stuffed in beds, drawers, everywhere. And the most fascinating works are often accompanied by the most extraordinary stories. Everyone is interested in fashion history, so you must go to heaven and build an effective network of relationships, "Blanchet said.
The problem now faced by private collectors is that when they want to sell collections, they often do not know how to deal with them. Fashion collector Cameron Silver runs an antique shop called Decades in Losangeles. It has a collection of treasures from Jean Paul Gaultier, Thom Browne, and Tom Ford designed for the Gucci, occupying a whole bedroom and a storeroom. He donated half of these collections to the Fashion Art Institute, the art gallery, and the Art Museum of Boston and Losangeles.
Sivler believes that if collectors feel that their taste reaches the library level, there will be some sense of satisfaction. But he also understands the idea of choosing people who sell products, not just money.
He explained: "the real recycling economy is continuing in the next generation. The story will continue. I met a woman named Maria in Losangeles. She had a rare black Tom Ford lace skirt. She insisted on selling it, because it was the clothes she wore when she met her husband. She hoped that someone else would wear it to meet their future husband. When something is in a museum, it sometimes makes people feel that its life is solidified.
Wunsch recommends that fashion collectors sell auctions through Sotheby's instead of RealReal, because the former only receives 15% Commission, while RealReal's commission is 20% to 50%.
Recently, there are also investment start-ups such as Rally Rd in the treasure hunt competition. Their practice is to sell rare collections by shares. For example, a Blue Lizard Birkin handbag that once belonged to Cardi B. was valued at $60 thousand, which was sold for 2000 shares at a price of $30 per share. Rob Petrozzo, co-founder of Rally Rd, says his start-up company can guarantee private collectors to get cash quickly.
"Some collections may take seven or eight months to find buyers, but our whole process takes only 15 days. Private collectors who want to sell their products know that through us, we can quickly complete the transaction, "Petrozzo said.
How to face competition
In the face of Rally Rd, 1stdibs or RealReal, museums may be at a disadvantage. They do not have millions of dollars in venture capital and often need to rely on donations.
Besides, they have to compete with their peers. With the increasing interest in this field, more and more organizations are buying collections and holding fashion shows. Since 2018, the Metropolitan Museum of Catholic costume exhibition has become the most popular exhibition in the museum, with a total of 1 million 600 thousand visitors. The National Women's Art Museum in Washington, D.C., the Now Gallery in London and the McNay Art Museum in Sanantonio also began to hold costumes.
Brands like Yves Saint Laurent and Armani now have their own museums, and many design companies have set up their own archives or held an open circuit exhibition.
Regan said that the clothing Institute is developing a network of relations, so that collectors know that the donation of collections to museums has a more profound cultural significance.
She said, "we believe that the fact that these collections will always be protected is what moves them. It will leave a long legacy. "
As for RealReal, as Dillie said, it is actively taking action through property lawyers, valuers, accountants or anyone who can reach the collection.
No one can guarantee that the demand or price of these collections will continue to rise. The value of antique furniture has plummeted in recent years, which is a good example. According to data from London based Art Market Research, prices of once expensive household products fell by 28% over the past 10 years. This alarming trend is related to the millennial changes in the taste of home furnishings.
But then, antique furniture has never been able to create record breaking visits for museums like fashion, so experts believe that fashion collections can be preserved.
"People's attitude towards fashion is changing. They will not spend money on things like they used to. They will be thrown away in a few seasons. We are looking for precious old things that are devoted to our minds and creativity. We want to keep them alive, "Casavant said.