A New Line From Paris’s Chicest Vintage Site Takes Its Cues From 1970s Yves Saint Laurent
Ask any fashion-forward French woman where she goes for her most prized secondhand wares, be they Alaïa’s form-fitting frocks or Martin Margiela’s deconstructed goods, and she’ll no doubt point you toward Re-See, the six-year-old Paris-based e-shop founded by Vogue and Self Service alums Sofia Bernardin and Sabrina Marshall. As of today, the site will also be a destination for new pieces with the launch of Re-See Atelier, a ready-to-wear line produced locally and sustainably from upcycled fabrics. “When we launched Re-See, we wanted to address overconsumption and waste in the fashion industry by encouraging the recycling of great pieces,” says Bernardin. “This is a natural extension of that.”
Years of working with collectors’ items—which, unlike many of today’s disposable garments, have managed to stand the test of time—have endowed them with a well-trained eye for spotting quality above all else. “We kept seeing these great vintage pieces over and over again, and one thing that always stuck out to us was how they were made,” Bernardin goes on. In keeping with that mind-set, everything is sewn in Paris by a small team of seamstresses (they were recommended by one of Nicolas Ghesquière’s right hands from his run at Balenciaga) and cut from silks salvaged directly from French luxury houses and factories. In a bid to return to slow fashion—“the way it was before,” Marshall notes—the rarest fabrics that allow for just a single one-of-a-kind product will be available as part of a bespoke service where clients can request unique trimmings and embellishments.
The collection will launch with four styles inspired by Yves Saint Laurent circa the 1970s that are decidedly bohemian in spirit and come with names that would make the designer himself proud. The Lou Lou ensemble—a cinched high-waisted skirt and matching crop top—recalls his longtime muse Lou Lou de la Falaise’s whimsical get-ups; a ruffled gypsy skirt pays homage to Paloma Picasso, who was known to dress in flea market finds; and an ankle-skimming off-the-shoulder peasant dress, called Alma in honor of the Alma-Marceau metro station near the legendary YSL atelier, can be dressed up or down and suits a range of body types. (For proof, look to Re-See’s founders: Marshall recently wore a dotted dress with heels to a seaside wedding in Mallorca; Bernardin, nine months pregnant, currently sports the breezy number while dashing around Paris.)
Although the designs take cues from bygone decades, they were nevertheless created with the modern woman in mind. “We really thought about what we—and our customers—want right now,” Marshall says. Thinking of the summer vacations on the horizon, they found their answer in the kinds of effortless pieces that can be tossed into a duffel and worn upon landing. “The fabrics are so lightweight that they don’t take up too much room and you don’t need to call the hotel to get an iron brought up to you because it’s completely wrinkled,” Bernardin says with a laugh. “That’s the way the woman is now. She doesn’t travel with all those trunks anymore.”
Of course, the duo have set their sights beyond summer. There will be lamé for fall and an expanded range of styles, though Re-See Atelier will always work to reimagine what came before. “There’s so many different vintage inspirations that have been important to us,” says Bernardin, citing the power suits of the ’80s, perfect vintage denim, and ’90s slips. “We’re revisiting the past in a contemporary way,” adds Marshall. “It doesn’t need to be disregarded; it should be celebrated, and that’s what we’re here to do.”
Originally Appeared on Vogue
