Keen vintage fan Amal Clooney has got the best archive sourcers in the world searching for rare John Galliano-era Dior slips and Lee McQueen handkerchief dresses for her. Among them? Marie Blanchet, who hails from Vestiaire Collective and William Vintage, and founded her own elite concierge service, Mon Vintage, in November 2020 with the Olsen twins as her chief clients.
For Blanchet, acquiring fashion steeped in history is not about the dopamine rush of winning a bidding war, it’s emotional. “Vintage is the best years; it is those moments in fashion that were important; the definitive shows, the definitive pieces; a change of line, a change of cut; a pop-culture [sensation],” she explains. Clooney, a top barrister who can appreciate the level of research in Blanchet’s field, clearly enjoys the storytelling that comes with wearing past treasures. Her desk-to-date-night transformations have become somewhat legendary.
As well as the spring/summer 2001 John Galliano green beaded chevron slip she wore to the Ticket to Paradise premiere, Blanchet also secured the star a Jean-Louis Scherrer by Stéphane Rolland couture 2007 gown to wear to Buckingham Palace. The other gems? “I’d rather keep them discreet,” says the archive connoisseur, whose line of work is based on the utmost sensitivity: “As Yves Saint Laurent said, ‘Over the years, I have learned that what is important in a dress is the woman who is wearing it’.”
When searching for nostalgic propositions that might pique Clooney’s interest – “I don’t sell vintage pieces, I sell a vision of fashion” – Marie keeps three things in her mind. The provenance of the product, her instinct and the image of Amal herself. The rest is like a magic alchemy that only skilled curators seem to be able to harness.
Take that Galliano, for example. The slinky pearlescent number came via a private collector Blanchet met some years ago, when she invited Marie to cost up her original McQueen archive. So excited was Blanchet at the prospect that she travelled to South London from Paris right away to meet her. “When she started revealing her collection, I literally felt like an archeologist who just discovered Pompeii not knowing Pompeii existed – the pieces were so extraordinary,” remembers Marie.
Since then, the mystery fashion fan has conjured up the rarest Lee McQueen toiles, mid-’90s Dolce runway looks and Galliano designs, such as Amal’s, for Mon Vintage. “I never ask her how she keeps finding them, but she really is the gift that keeps on giving,” asserts Blanchet. Clooney, who recognised vintage as a sustainable signifier as well as an interesting fashion narrative some years ago, is surely inclined to agree. The excavation of these fashion artefacts is thrilling for everyone involved. For everyone watching, remember Blanchet’s advice: instinct is everything.Read more at:lilac prom dresses uk | cheap prom dresses uk