I was in Florence to cover the events at the Pitti tradeshows but that doesn’t mean I was keeping the eye off things for myself. My favourite section isn’t some well groomed menswear dapper label but instead, the vintage section as part of the Pitti Woman fair, a gathering of Italy’s finest vintage dealers showing their wares.
I haven’t had the fortune to visit A.N.G.E.LO. which describes itself as a 3 storey vintage palace in the centre of Lugo in North Italy selling over 80,000 used garments. It was set up over 20 years ago by Angelo Caroli and Mario Gulmanelli and sells everything from valuable designer vintage pieces by the likes of Chanel, Versace, Dior and Alaia to historical vintage dating back to the 18th century which can be hired for film, TV, theatre and editorial purposes.
At Pitti W, A.N.G.E.L.O. were presenting their latest line of recycled vintage wares where they have reused and adapted vintage pieces to give new contemporary life to them. Vintage fur is still a controversial topic as to whether it’s deemed ethical to wear it. On an aesthetic level though, A.N.G.E.L.O. has changed up this fur caplet well adding silk scarf inserts to it or creating unexpected fur sections on a coat
I also love what they have done to this duffel coat, chopping it up into a cape and adding denim accents to it…
For the occasion of Pitti, A.N.G.E.L.O. also set up a Happy Kilo stall where vintage clothes were sold by the kilo for EUR15 each. By Kilo vintage is not really a used concept in London like it is in say Berlin so I was glad to see a haute vintage seller take to this bargain hunting method. I didn’t have time to wade through but on first glance, men could have benefited from some amazing 70s tailoring and women could get hold of some wonderful aged 40s tea dresses…
My first port of call in United Colors of Benetton has got to be the knitwear. The stuff that I begged my mother to buy but alas I had to head to C&A instead (Europeans will be familiar with that store…). And so from an autumn/winter season, I’d expect nothing less than some cuddly knits to get me through the winter days and nights. Come to think of it, could do with some of it now as temperatures in the UK hit minus 2. In May. Madness!
Oh you know how it is, you’re meant to be there for two days, a volcano erupts and before you know it you’re stranded with nothing but a camera, a new Mac and the bright idea to do a self portrait in your hotel room. Do I want to go out for a drink yeah, yeah, in a minute, I’m just working on a personal project…
Let’s forget about the volcano ash that has made our New York trip a bit longer than we had anticipated for a minute. Let’s instead look back to happier times. The shoot in New York was really 50% about the people and 50% about the clothes and whilst I found it quite interesting seeing the people bring the clothes alive, showcasing their own spirit and style, I was primarily also interested in the clothes from a selfish point of view…
It seems to me that beyond the pouty posing, obvious styling, 100 watt smiles that people have been uploading, there are more than plenty who have also been making the effort to present their profile in the most unique way possible be it through the way their imagery is shot, how they put things together or how their joie de vivre is put across.
