Defining "Vintage"

Why is fashion luxury from the past so sought-after today? As Elizabeth Mason writes in Valuable Vintage, "The great thing about vintage is that it doesn't get old, it just gets older...!" So just how old is vintage? The fashion industry defines the vintage era the last 100 years. Anything older than that—such as Victorian—is referred to as "antique."

But vintage, in its purest sense, suggests a future. A good wine is proclaimed a "vintage" and is put away until it can be appreciated as such. The older a bottle becomes, the rarer it becomes, and therefore the more valuable. But the key is that it was predicted to be a good vintage at the wine's inception. So it is with fashion and, of course, with handbags. Styles from the early 20th century, particularly those in good condition, are rarer than those from the 1990s and therefore tend to be more valuable. But each decade has its important designs that are destined to become classics. Chanel's quilted bag, for example, was created in the 1950s and is still as hot as ever.

Some iconic contemporary designs are hoarded by savvy collectors who know instinctively that their value is destined to increase (see Moschino's Dripping Chocolate bolide). As Caroline Rennolds Milbank points out in The Couture Accessory, when it comes to the luxury couture market today, "playing hard-to-get has increasingly become a valuable marketing tool—the mere fact that a piece is unavailable adds to its allure. The brand that leads this strategy is of course Hermès, whose Kelly and Birkin bags are most in-demand. Each bag takes at least six months to be made by han—dtherefore the company controls output to such an extent that bags made today will have a higher value tomorrow.

Since the 1980s, there has been a steady growth in awareness and the historical importance of vintage designs. Today, fashion moves so quickly from season to season that to consistently create new styles and ideas for a fashion-hungry audience can be very challenging for designers. In fact, most designers acknowledge that in their quest for fresh looks, colors and styles, they often turn to design archives for inspiration—deconstructing and then reconstructing those looks for today's consumer.

In Andrew Boltonss essay (Post)Modernity: Chanel and Lagerfeld, he points out that Karl Lagerfeld has the rare ability of being able to continually align "the spirit of Chanel" with the "spirit of the times" since his appointment as Creative Director in 1983. Former Gucci Creative Director Tom Ford also mined the styles of the 1970s and 80s to great success in the mid 1990s. Marc Jacobs is another master of vintage inspiration, Anna Sui is a retro maven and just last season, Galliano at Dior paid homage to Christian Dior's New Look—a post-war revolution in fashion design that's never been repeated. As Tiffany Dubin, the former founder and Director of Sotheby's international fashion department in New York, observes in her book Vintage Style, "Everything good comes around again and again anyway," and design snippets from many decades "now coexist in a single season."

But vintage styles are more than just source of inspiration. Today the original styles are readily available in stores, auction houses and on the web—to be worn, enjoyed and collected as investment. Doyle New York held the first Couture Auction in 1983 with Hope Hampton's wardrobe. Then 22 years later, a 2002 Hermes black crocodile Birkin with a diamond-studded closure set a record—selling for $65,000—well over its original retail price. It was a signal to Hermes owners and couture collectors everywhere!

The gilded 1980s saw a surge in the popularity of vintage couture—as well as a surge in the influence of the gay population and financially independent working women. Both factions had money to spare and a common desire to reject the "cookie cutter" mentality of contemporary fashion. These dedicated fashionistas loved to keep people guessing by throwing a vintage item into a modern ensemble—making individualistic statements with their style and starting a trend that's still very much alive.

Today, as clutches return to the fashion forefront, a woman can make a bold statement by adding a clutch from the late 70s—like the Pfister Mondrian—to a contemporary dress. Not only does vintage fashion offer luxe, one-of-a-kind couture, but it also offers a diverse mid-range of stylish, iconic, ready-to-wear brands and little known names that are growing in popularity.

More and more people are appreciating iconic, original designs and wearing contemporary styles that invoke the past. Celebrities make headlines when they carry vintage bags—recalling bygone eras and celebrating the pioneers of modern style. And that's why today, vintage is modern.