Meet the Melbourne vintage store that’s championing upcycling
WORDS By Kaya Martin
“I just think we’ve got to encourage customers to think of new ways to use pieces.”
The trend cycle in 2022 moves at a breakneck speed. Fashion influencers on apps like TikTok have the god-like ability to spark a micro trend – think leg warmers, pearl chokers and sweater vests – and fast fashion brands pump out masses of poorly made items to cater to a demographic eager to keep up. So what’s the antidote to this culture of overconsumption and throwaway purchases?
Vault, a vintage store in Melbourne, believes vintage fashion and upcycling can provide us with a way to tap into the trend cycle without purchasing new items. The not-for-profit vintage store, located in Melbourne’s iconic Block Arcade, is a new venture for the National Trust of Victoria. Opened in November 2021, the proceeds from the store go towards preserving historic properties, including the Rippon Lea Mansion, Como House and the Old Melbourne Gaol.
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After decades of volunteer-run vintage markets, the permanent storefront is a way to raise funds and engage a younger market in the work done by the National Trust. And as Gen Z and millennials are particularly fond of secondhand fashion, Vault’s upcycled runway show as part of Melbourne Fashion Week (M/FW) will serve as a timely introduction to anyone who’s yet to pay the store a visit.
As an official media partner of M/FW – and longtime advocates for a slower, more considered approach to fashion – Fashion Journal is particularly taken with Vault’s approach to vintage fashion. While some would argue that preserving the integrity of a vintage piece is of the utmost importance, Vault wants to encourage people to make an item their own by altering and upcycling. An ’80s prom dress that looks too costume-y for you to actually wear? No worries, rework it into a flouncy tulle midi skirt.
It’s this approach, which Vault is calling its Upcycle Initiative, that’s seeing the store invite a team of local designers, including Sorrentino, Chelsea Hickman, and Moosedoll, to breathe new life into old garments for its M/FW debut. We caught up with Vault’s manager, Jack Fordham, to chat about the environmental impact of fashion, how you can follow the trend cycle without buying new and what we can expect from the upcoming show.
Can you tell me a little bit about the ethos of Vault?
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I think something we want to champion is that buying secondhand clothing is the most sustainable thing you can do in fashion. We definitely encourage our customers to take pieces – and it doesn’t matter to me if it’s a designer piece or a rare piece – if they love it, and they feel it would look better without sleeves, or if they want to change the colour of it, or if they want to make it into a top from a skirt, it’s like, go for it. As long as they’re reusing, I think that’s a great thing.
That’s really interesting to hear you say, especially with designer pieces, because I know some people are adamant about preserving them.
I think there’s space for that as well. We’ve got a beautiful 1969 Pierre Balmain dress in the shop and I would not recommend taking that apart. But look, it’s up to the owner – if they want to change it up, they should. I just think we’ve got to encourage customers to think of new ways to use pieces.
What are some of the benefits of buying vintage fashion?
The fashion industry I know overproduces products by 30 to 40 per cent, and it contributes to 10 per cent of all global carbon emissions and is the world’s second worst offender in terms of water and plastic pollution. Buying secondhand does not contribute to that in really any way. There is really no offset to it.
You’re preventing something from becoming waste, and you’re also preventing yourself from buying something new.
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It’s all very cyclical. Even things that we thought, ‘Oh, it’s so dated, who could wear that now?’, it all comes back in fashion. As an individual who loves fashion, I’ve got pieces in my wardrobe that I’ve had since I was 14. I still wear them and they still fit me because my mum loved to buy oversized. I just think it all comes around, and why not swap some of your pieces in and out for new vintage pieces and redo a whole outfit?
How can buyers use pre-loved garments to their advantage when trying to shop for current trends?
They can mix and match within the store which is great. Or we can give them a shirt from the shop to see how they might wear it at home, so they can look at what they’ve got in their own wardrobe. It goes down to details as well. We sell lots of costume jewellery, and sometimes just adding a brooch or a necklace can just update the outfit as well.
Pieces that are still around today must have good quality fabric and craftsmanship if they have made it this long.
Within Vault, we have a lot of Australian and even Melbourne designers that are no longer around. It just shows you the quality that was made back then, that they are 50 years old but still look in beautiful condition. For instance, down the runway, we put a wedding dress from 1989.
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We didn’t do anything to the dress, we just styled [it] with contemporary hair and makeup, and that changed everything. Some pieces might look dated on a hanger, but as soon as you put them on a moving body, they really do change. It’s also all about the confidence of the wearer to bring that piece to life.
It seems the trend cycle is speeding up. Do you think this is actually good for vintage because it means styles quickly come back in fashion?
My personal belief is that it’s too fast. Companies like Shein and even ASOS, like what are they really producing? It’s nothing of quality. But I’m seeing a lot of people, just through Instagram and TikTok and other social media platforms, they go and they buy a cute vintage dress or a two-piece from Vault, and then they’ll match that with, like, a new pair of Prada shoes.
That’s all about putting the money on a quality piece but matching it with something that costs like $20. Not to say there aren’t issues with luxury being a fast fashion contributor as well, but I see that a lot, how people are mixing the high and the low.
What was the inspiration behind the M/FW upcycling runway project?
The Block Arcade, it’s a beautiful old building. To see some new, fresh designers in there is something that doesn’t happen very often. But back in the ’80s, they did runways through the Block Arcade. Even way before that, there was a thing called ‘doing the block’, where the madames and gentlemen would walk around the Block Arcade and Collins Street and window shop. We’re kind of bringing that tradition back. Part of the reason for doing these runways [was] the amount of stuff that I had coming into Vault.
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A lot of it’s great, but there are a few pieces that are just so dated. [We had] this big marshmallow 1980s wedding dress and while I do believe my statement that anyone can wear anything, it wouldn’t sell. We gave that to a designer called Oscar Keene who has remade it into this incredible piece. It was about giving pieces that might have a hole in them, or they might be stained, or moth holes is a very common thing in vintage clothing, and just taking those pieces that are overworn and just reusing them.
Upcycling really took off during the pandemic, with established designers getting involved due to manufacturing struggles. Do you think it’s here to stay?
I really do. With the way that stuff is moving, I think it will be continuing on. My one rule with the runway coming up was that designers had to use deadstock or offcuts, and there was no space (besides maybe a zipper) to buy anything for the product. It was all just reused from their own atelier or from Vault.
It’s always so amazing what people can do. Sometimes limitations are good for creativity as well.
Absolutely. Hopefully, this is the start of an annual event for us, that we can champion sustainable fashion here at Fashion Week and make it a bigger and better event. This is just our first year, but hopefully, there are many more to come.
You can catch the Vault Runway on October 14 at Melbourne Fashion Week 2022. Find out more here.
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