What today seems to be en vogue has been always in style by women with true elegance and grace, Vintage fashion. Muses, countesses, rock stars and It-Girls of all times craved vintage fashion.
Vintage is not only a fashion statement, but also a state of mind and in our times a welcoming way of consuming fashion sustainably.
By now everyone got the message. And after Kim Kardashian squeezed into Marylyn’s sequin dress (Diet Prada), it’s official: a garment has more value when it has a story and gives the person wearing it a grand entrance, at least to the tabloids.
The red carpet at the Festival Du Film in Cannes was covered in vintage and Valentino has teamed up with selected vintage shops around the world to showcase their ready-to-wear pieces from previous seasons.
I’ve always loved vintage and being in a vintage shop is like a history lesson in art school. The way a garment used to be made is often a matter of masterful craftsmanship, with lots of hand-sewn details and unique fabrics.
My grandmother Irma Marx Vilz was one of the first female fashion buyers at the department store Peek & Cloppenburg in Düsseldorf in 1957. At that time, she already went to Paris not for store-checks, but for Maison visits, saw the collection and edited her choice of prêt-à-porter for the German market.
With a suitcase full of goodies, she flew to Berlin, where things had been made and altered into dresses, jackets, skirts, and blouses for a wider audience.
She thrived and did well, being awarded the 1976 Golden Pin by Mr. James Cloppenburg for building the most successful women’s clothing division after the Second World War.
She quit and decided to stop working in the fashion industry and instead collect art and objects from her travels.
For me, this journey began in 1995 when I was gifted her vintage collection of one-offs by Chanel, Givenchy, Ted Lapidus (my wedding dress) as well as my mother’s cloths by Yves Saint Laurent and Jil Sander.
In the 90’s, when I was a big fan of Helmut Lang, I couldn’t identify with these cloths. When we moved to London in 1999, I first discovered that vintage clothing is actually cool. And my first vintage purchase was a slip dress from VIRGINIA in Holland Park that I matched with cowboy boots at China White.
Soon in 2001, Selfridges opened their first Vintage Section and Liberty soon followed. I read about Marc Jacobs looking at vintage shops for inspiration for his collection while at Louis Vuitton. The hype about vintage continued and today I almost always mix a piece of vintage with my looks and wear my own line, Jasmin Khezri Collection.
A piece of vintage, a beloved dress, an accessory, or piece of jewellery from another time adds style and charm to any outfit and I encourage everyone to start their own vintage collection as cloths from another area also gain in value.
That’s why I started the IRMA Archive project. (Insta link)
Where we display and curate my vintage collection, which keeps growing with favourite preloved pieces. Cloths are there to go on a journey, some of them keep staying as they become all-time favourites or are part of your own personal style.
We curated most of them in our new Instagram account @IRMAarchive and will show new edits every day , inspirational back ground and some fashion history to get you into the mood.
Vintage fashion is a great addition to contemporary collections.
You can find information about each piece @IRMAarchive and if you want to know more details send us a DM or email to info@irmasworld.com .