When I think of vintage stores I think of dusty old St. Vincent DePaul, Value Village or Goodwill. Great deals can be found if you are courageous enough to risk the environmental hazards that lurk on every rack. It’s not the idealistic shopping experience that I’ve come to appreciate and enjoy.
Never in a million years would I have thought a vintage store could be a luxury buying experience, and certainly wouldn’t have ever imagined that it would be so exclusive you would need to be vetted and could only rent garments, not buy them.
Shannon Hoey, Founder and Owner of New York Vintage in Chelsea became so good at collecting vintage she was able to do just that. Yes, you need to be vetted to see her collection, and–wait for it–you can’t buy it.
Hoey was offered “6 figures” for Sarah Jessica Parker’s Sex in the City bridal headpiece from a Saudi Princess and turned it down. So it’s no joke, the garments really aren’t for sale.
Her so-called “showroom houses over 150 years important fashion” and she has catered to clients such as Michelle Obama who for one event dressed in vintage.
Hoey appreciates knowing that, “somehow (she’s) inspired somebody to take an idea and run with it.”
What is it that you do, and do you do it so well you inspire others? Hoey has forever changed my idea about vintage clothes. Can your ideas change minds like this?
