The Vintage Industry April 1, 2009

No longer hidden away in backstreets, they are now on the front line. Located alongside popular chains, the garish yellow exterior of Sheffield’s newest vintage shop ‘Cow’ looks oddly misplaced. Their notable shopping bags seem to have replaced Primark’s brown-paper effort as the average Sheffield shopper’s must-have accessory. As it seems, vintage is taking over our wardrobes and our high streets and I felt it was about time to try to unravel the threads of the used clothes system.

I soon found that finding someone to talk about vintage fashion was surprisingly easy. Finding some willing to illuminate the processes that go on behind closed doors however, was not. Fortunately, before I came to the conclusion that the vintage clothing trade was a façade used to conceal underground felony I stumbled across Samantha Hearn, owner of Volta Clothing and a firm advocator of small-scale and personalised retail. 

‘When sourcing my stock I like to take a very active approach, I travel the country most days to find the most genuine and beautiful vintage pieces. I rummage through charity shops and visit vintage markets, mostly in bigger cities such as London and Manchester. Occasionally I travel to wholesalers but I’m not always happy with the stock I’m given, so I try not to do the latter.’

Given? It becomes clear that when sourcing from wholesalers, vintage retailers actually have little choice in the stock that they are provided with. Samantha adds, ‘from personal experience, most wholesalers seem disinterested in fashion themselves or the quality of the pieces. I went to one in York not long ago, I was able to ask more generally for stock that I wanted such as dresses from the 70s and I would be given a black bag full for an agreed price. There is no way of exercising quality control or choosing special pieces.’ I guess that would explain the profusion of 80s sportswear luridly patterned with what can only be described as the Saved By The Bell title sequence, that continues to dominate the shelves of vintage shops today.

 It appears that this impersonal approach makes it increasingly difficult for smaller, independent vintage shops that wish to be more selective with their stock. ‘I don’t believe in selling old tack just because it’s ‘old’, Samantha tells me, ‘the industry is extremely cliquey –it takes shops a long time to build both a reputation and trust with wholesalers.’ I’m informed that businesses need to obtain a close working relationship and loyalty to a specific wholesaler; it is only then that the retailer can begin to state their preferences and wholesaler will try and hold back a few items that they think will be of interest.

California based vintage wholesaler ‘Dust Factory’ reveals the cost to bulk buy on their website. To buy an Antique Dress would cost the retailer $33. To buy a bag of 12 dresses would cost $120, averaging at $10 a piece - undeniably a considerable saving for the retailer. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that even if the retailer doesn’t shift a few of the dresses, the profit they would have made due to the demand for antique pieces is substantial. 

From a retailer’s perspective, it’s a closed question – either limit their sourcing options by avoiding buying in bulk, an option that would potentially reduce their market or alternatively, flog anything they can get their hands on. With this in mind, how do retailers decide how much each item should be worth? It seems they all have their own rules when it comes to this. Samantha insists that her decision is based on factors such as the material, with more desirable silk or lace fabrics costing more. However, I would be happy to bet a few dollars that the biggest influence for most retailers would be demand. Especially now that the purse strings have been tightened in the recent economic climate and equally the rise in prices on the high street, demand for second-hand fashion has never been more relevant. The idea that vintage retailers would miss an opportunity to cash in on the current check shirt phenomenon or the abundance of fur coats currently gracing the city is implausible. 

But where does this seemingly endless supply of vintage come from? Are there secret vintage landfills overflowing with old clothes waiting to make a comeback on the fashion front? No, even better. I’m told that some of our prized vintage is actually rejuvenated castoffs from clothes recycle bins, the kind you get outside supermarkets. True Story. However, due to the secrecy that shrouds the origins of sourcing vintage I am unable to print who exactly revealed this glorious little fact, you’ll just have to take my word for it. Our vintage is literally rubbish. 

Another significant portion of vintage stock derives from deadstock. At first, the name does not connote either luxury or rarity, and it is soon confirmed that this is the case. Mark Millar director of MM Products Ltd, explained that deadstock is new “old stock” –ie, brand new items found in a warehouse somewhere that is still in the original wrappers with tags. Shattering the myth of the fashion forward magpies rooting out timeless collectors pieces, I realised that vintage shops were effectively working on the same principles as ‘off-price’ high street retailers such as T.K Maxx. This process involves buying relatively contemporary stock that has not sold out and cleverly re-marketing it as ‘vintage’. Evidently, not only has vintage became a euphemism for second hand but also a cunning way of generating more cash from failing high street lines. 

Trying to weave myself further into the industry for answers, I continue to probe Mark for answers. As I expect, questions such as where we might find these warehouses of deadstock are swiftly disregarded. Shot down before I’ve even begun. Instead, I ask how they forecast current trends and styles for vintage fashion. I’m amazed by how vintage retailers are able to find pieces so relevant to contemporary fashion, do they buy speculatively or plan for future trends? ‘I buy old classics that never go out of fashion and listen to people asking me for certain items. Students tend to know what is in fashion. Also some of the dealers are on the ball.’ Being the prime target market of contemporary fashion, it is unsurprising that vintage is influenced by the trends of students or those in the same age group. However, surely then if vintage retails are reliant upon the trends popularised by this young age group, who in turn are influenced by mainstream labels such as Topshop or high-end fashion, does this mean that vintage has, in its most general terms, became just another mainstream brand? Vintage is the unquestionably the current fashion buzzword and vintage is most certainly giving market leaders a run for their money. The demand for this market can be illustrated in the decision of Nick Robertson (chief executive of online fashion store ASOS) to push his online clothing company into the vintage and ethical range in line with their 95% increased profits in the past year. Nevertheless, taking vintage from the underground to the forefront of the market, I can only wonder how this will fare for the future of the industry. In business the product life cycle suggests that once a product hits its peak, it is inevitably heading for a decline unless of course they reinvent themselves further. For now, a mission for those of you why enjoy the hunt for second-hand goods…why not trying throwing away some of your own unwanted clothes in recycle bins around the city and later trawling through vintage shops high and low to try and recover your items. It’s possible.