The Institute of Contemporary Photography is upping the designer factor in terms of museums and cultural institutions selling fashion-inspired merchandise with an Yves Saint Laurent pop-up sale.
The unprecedented event will be held Saturday at the ICP’s Café on the Lower East Side. Museum admission is not required for shoppers, but that could be a worthwhile investment pre-browsing. The one-day sale is being held in celebration of the opening of the “Yves Saint Laurent and Photography” exhibition.
Four dealers that specialize in YSL finds — Ancien Vintage, Moore’s Vintage, Manifold Vintage, and Vestiaire Collective — will be serving up apparel and accessories. The Sil Shop’s editor and cofounder Lilah Ramzi, who once worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, will host the event.
While the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute tapped Thom Browne, Michael Kors and Tory Burch for limited-edition “Costume Art” items and Uniqlo is playing up its co-branded Museum of Fine Arts apparel, the ICP is forging new ground with a vintage YSL sale. Anicien’s founder Marie Loffert said, “It’s such an interactive way to present the exhibit. We can always afford to appreciate the art, and the photography by seeing it and viewing it, but also being able to touch and try on these pieces in person is very cool.”
Having collected YSL pieces for 15 years and sold them through her Henry Street store, Loffert has culled 50 styles from her archives and more recent finds. A 1976 fall chocolate velvet jacket with a mandarin collar and a peplum waist from Saint Laurent’s “Opéras — Ballets Russes” period and coordinating knicker trousers with satin ties from the designer’s 1979 fall line will be sold as a set for possibly $2,200. A black satin “Mombasa” bag from the Tom Ford era at YSL will be up-for-grabs, as will a 1980s black suede tassel bag with Ballets Russes references.
Wearable as YSL is, the throwback styles also offer historical references “without being too costume-y and a strong sense of modernity, which is the perfect balance,” according to Loffert. As for the current interest, she said, “Given our current cultural zeitgeist with media and social media, there’s a nostalgia and craving for maybe a simpler time without cellphones and pre-internet.”
Moore Vintage’s founder Keesean Moore expects the items that are documented in photographs, ad campaigns, runway images and editorial spreads to garner the most interest, since they hold “the most significance in fashion history.”
The legacy of Saint Laurent, the brand’s impact on culture and entertainment, and its talented former creative directors like Ford, Alber Elbaz, Stefano Pilati and others have “changed the industry,” Moore said. “The clothes are so well-constructed and [they] have definitely stood the test of time. Customers and curators alike love YSL legacy.”
This weekend’s pop-up will dovetail with “Cameras and Coffee: ICP Showcase,” which will be hosted by the School at ICP and will feature pop-up street fashion portraits by ICP faculty. There will also be school and darkroom tours and information for visitors to learn more about ICP’s Open Education program. The upcoming commercial and educational combination will be held at an institution that was started by Cornell Capa in 1974 to champion “concerned photography” — socially and politically minded images that can educate and change the world.
