Hawkeye Vintage is bringing its online designer treasure trove to a pop-up near you

Sydney and Melbourne fashion lovers, you’re in luck.

For over a decade, Hawkeye Vintage has been the go-to for luxury pre-loved fashion. Starting with an IYKYK sales room in a private pocket of Melbourne’s inner south, they’ve now become a local online sales powerhouse with live sales that span hard-to-source vintage clothing and accessories through to some of the best luxury handbags and jewellery.

But while the business has found a new audience online, the appeal of its original in-person sales hasn’t gone anywhere. For founder Danielle Godwin, bringing them back is a return to the Hawkeye experience that longtime customers know and love.

For more on the circular economy, head to our Pre-Loved section.

From October 15, Melbourne shoppers can catch Hawkeye Vintage’s four-day pop-up on Little Collins Street. The following week, the Sydney pop-up lands in Paddington from October 22 to 25.

“Our live sales have created such an incredible community online, but there’s something completely different about being able to touch and feel the pieces, try them on, see the details up close and meet the team behind the business,” Danielle says. 

“For us, it’s also about building trust. When you meet us in person and get to know the people behind Hawkeye Vintage, it creates that connection that carries through to our livestreams. We want our customers to feel like they know who they’re buying from.”

As someone who has been buying from Hawkeye for over a decade, it’s an exciting moment; an opportunity for Melburnians and Sydneysiders who can’t commit to flying to vintage luxury hotspots like Japan and South Korea to source the best in secondhand brands for ourselves. And, speaking of Korea, Hawkeye is also adding a new range of hard-to-find K-beauty to the sale.

“K-beauty has been growing so much with our customer base, and we’ve actually been doing multiple trips to Korea,” Danielle tells me. “We’ve discovered so many incredible brands and products that are difficult to find in Australia.”

“We’re creating two floors within the sale – one dedicated entirely to K-beauty and the other to luxury vintage. So you can come for the vintage and discover the beauty, or come for the K-beauty and end up finding your dream vintage piece. We wanted to create an experience where customers can discover both sides of what we love and what our community has been asking us for.”

And speaking of those coveted dream vintage pieces, I asked Danielle what we should be looking for when selecting a special piece to add to the collection that will stand the test of time. “Once you have your classics covered, that’s when it becomes really exciting to start looking for something more unique – a pop of colour, a rare piece, a limited edition or something you wouldn’t necessarily find in a traditional luxury store.”

“Most importantly, buy what you love. Trends come and go, but if you find a piece that feels special to you, you’re much more likely to enjoy it for years to come.”

Perhaps the most important thing when purchasing luxury designer vintage these days is finding a seller you can trust. With so many ‘super fakes’ around, how can you know what you’re buying is authentic? 

In my experience, it comes down to buying from a reputable seller with enough experience to know what they’re looking for, and who can stand behind the quality and authenticity of what they sell. For extra peace of mind, you can also have your purchase authenticated independently through services like Entrupy.

“At Hawkeye Vintage, all of our vintage luxury designer pieces are 100 per cent authentic. Authenticity is something we take extremely seriously, and we want our customers to feel completely confident in what they’re purchasing,” Danielle says.

It’s this combination of experience, expertise and trust that has kept Hawkeye Vintage a go-to for vintage luxury for more than a decade.

To attend the vintage portion, head here for Melbourne and here for Sydney. For the beauty pop-up, head here for Melbourne and here for Sydney.