Partner Spotlight – Menage Modern Vintage
Love it or loathe it, our style choices say a lot about us. Think Steve Jobs and his distinctive all black attire or how a certain look determines every defining shift in Madonna’s musical career. What we wear creates an impact and how we shop for said wears, even more so.
So, as we start to understand the devastating impact of fast fashion on our planet and seek more sustainable avenues to satiate our sartorial needs, there was no better time to sit down with Chiara Menage, Founder of Menage Modern Vintage.
Read on for the story of how it all began, Chiara’s ultimate fashion era and her top tips on vintage shopping…
Could you start by telling us how Menage Modern Vintage was born?
I started my website, Menage Modern Vintage, in 2018. I had a wardrobe full of clothes that I had collected over the years, which I no longer wore. Some of them had real sentimental and collectable value and I wanted to find good homes for them, so someone else could enjoy them. When I started telling people about the project I discovered a lot of them felt the same way; you could say it has backfired on me – instead of emptying my own wardrobe I now have an inventory of literally thousands of clothes, shoes and accessories.
What is the best part of your job?
I have met a lot of interesting people doing the job; because it’s a small business I’ve been able to build personal relationships with my clients. I visit them at home and I’d say the moment when they open up their wardrobes is the most exciting part, you never know what treasures you’re going to find.
My previous career in the film industry has opened up another fun aspect of the job, which I didn’t predict at the outset: supplying costumes for the film industry. I sometimes get an early brief and they ask me to source special pieces, which I really enjoy. Clothes and costume can say so much about character, both on screen and off.
What does fashion mean to you? Has it always been a part of your DNA?
Actually, I have never been very interested in fashion as such. My mother made all my childhood clothes, which was a mixed blessing, but I did learn about quality of fabric and what goes into making a garment. I’m more interested in these aspects and I did inherit a love of clothes. The first thing I bought for myself was from Kensington Market, a mecca for all sorts of vintage clothes which I frequented a lot in the 1980s. It was a wonderful Victorian petticoat which I wore with a military belt and DMs. I’ve been buying vintage ever since.
It is becoming increasingly popular to source vintage and shop second-hand. What for you are the main reasons to opt for vintage over luxury/fast fashion?
Sustainability is the most important issue in today’s fashion industry. The sheer wastefulness of fast fashion and over-consumption; the disposability of cheaply manufactured goods, the injustices in the supply chain; the horrendous environmental damage during the production process and the eventual disposal of all those thousands of tonnes of discarded clothing into landfill. All good reasons to only ever buy second hand.
There are of course other great advantages. You can afford to buy much better quality when you buy second hand, even high end designer items become accessible. This in turn means the clothes last longer and keep their value. But most of all, it’s so much more enjoyable to discover something unexpected, rather than wandering aimlessly around the high street being sold stuff that everyone else is wearing.
If you could relive any era of fashion what one would it be and why?
I have a soft spot for the seventies, although there were some truly awful moments; the nineties was when I started buying for myself, Vivienne Westwood, Rifat Ozbek, John Galliano, other great designers when I could afford it. I worked in Great Portland Street, which was at the time a centre of the rag trade, they used to have brilliant sample sales. Sadly I didn’t know then what I know now and I gave so much of it away. I see some of the pieces at auction now and want to cry.
What advice would you give to someone foraying into vintage shopping for the first time?
Not everyone can pull off a head to toe vintage look. If you’re new to buying, choose a statement piece you love and wear it with dependable wardrobe staples. Buy from trusted sources – there are sellers who are jumping on the bandwagon and trying to pass off as “vintage”. Be aware that sizing has changed over the years, and a size 12 from 20 years ago is more like a 10 nowadays, so check measurements if buying online. If you’re rummaging in a shop, trust your fingers, feel the quality of the fabric. Hold the garment up to the light to show up any moth holes. And put everything in the freezer for a week when you get home to kill off any lurking moth eggs.
And finally, what does the future hold for Menage Modern Vintage?
I never know from one moment to the next and that’s how I like it.
