Are Vintage Designer Clothes Actually Still Cool?
Taylor Swift is a great bellwether for, well, almost anything. Swift's mass appeal makes her a living case study for phenomenon like ticket price furor and celebrity-driven demand, for instance. So, because Swift is herself indicative of mainstream appeal, the things she wears speak to mainstream acceptance.
That's not necessarily a bad thing. Like, Taylor Swift wore New Balance 550 sneakers because they are, effectively, the Taylor Swift of sneakers: approachable, widely popular, and not terribly "cool."
But when Taylor Swift steps out in Jean Paul Gaultier, the entire equation is inverted.
On October 15, Swift and headline-breaking beau Travis Kelce were lensed wearing outfits that speak to their own stylistic inclinations.
He, as usual, demonstrated a sturdy grip on contemporary menswear with a boxy, peach-tinged workwear suit and she, as usual, wore a fairly ordinary night-out outfit: sheer top, leather skirt, black boots.
But wait, Swift wasn't repping any ol' transparent sweater — she was wearing a since-sold-out Jean Paul Gaultier Fleurs Petit Grand top that retailed for about $400 (buy it secondhand right now for only $600!).
Now, this isn't old Gaultier, to be clear — and, in the context of this outfit, it looks more Wet Seal than tasteful flex — but Taylor Swift is only wearing modern JPG because demand for the vintage stuff has peaked to the point that Gaultier's line has enjoyed a contemporary resurgence.
Gaultier is a household name to anyone even remotely familiar with the fashion biz but folks on the outside most likely associate his name with sailor suit-wearing perfume bottles and Eurotrash.
So, seeing Swift wear a new Gaultier top indicative of his classic designs is perhaps the best reflection of once-cult fashion tastes gone mainstream.
During and in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, interest in archival designer clothing truly blossomed. Classic menswear from inimitable designers like Raf Simons and Helmut Lang had long fostered a community of collectors and celebrity clientele but vintage designer clothes have become a red carpet mainstay and off-duty staple for some of the world's most famous women.
Now, archival JPG, Mugler, Gucci, Vivienne Westwood, Chanel, and even Yohji Yamamoto are as commonplace as new clothes at even the biggest events. Met Gala 2023, an homage to Karl Lagerfeld, was an archival bonanza, for example.
So, why hasn't archival fashion yet become played-out despite its omnipresence? For one, the niche is so deep that even when celebs (or their stylists) mine the same brands over and over again, the results remain distinct.
Hence why Kylie Jenner, Cardi B, Dua Lipa, and Kim Kardashian can all wear heritage Mugler and each look utterly distinct.
Similarly, the well-connected folks are stepping out sought-after bits, rather than any ol' ready-to-wear.
But 2023 is feeling a lot like a prelude to archival fashion hitting a metaphorical ceiling.
These clothes will always look great, obviously — there's no expiration date on good taste — but we're nearing a point of critical mass, where even celebs who've never attended couture week are adopting vintage classic designer garments en masse.
The results aren't often all that bad, mind you, and it's wack to gatekeep great clothes, but this once-IYKYK niche has since become a glut of throwback (or throwback-inspired) lewks — will fatigue soon set in, especially as less style-salient celebs dip their toes into the old-school pool?
Widespread adoption threatens to clamp down on the insider-y appeal of designer vintage, which is part of the movement's appeal. At the very least, the wider interest in these kinda designers threatens to further bump up prices of older items.
Not that there will ever not be demand for the classics and not that the mainstream-ing of anything necessarily makes it bad, but part of the appeal behind archival clothes is that they're inherently rare. They aren't being made any more!
But once everyone has their JPG sheer top or Vivienne Westwood orb necklace (or cheapo dupe), will anyone want them anymore?
And not to lay blame on Taylor Swift alone, mind you. One could justifiably point to Margot Robbie's Barbie red carpet world tour or even Kim Kardashian's Marilyn Monroe dress as the moments that archival fashion went from obscure to overt.
Still, Taylor Swift's Jean Paul Gaultier top represents archival designers at peak visibility — if not in practice, then in principle.
But that's fine, at least for the fans. They know it'll never not be okay to enjoy classic Westwood, Mugler, or Gaultier pieces, no matter who wears them. But it wouldn't hurt to see them styled in more interesting outfits.
