Opening the door to The Vintage Emporium from the busy street of Brick Lane is like entering a different world. Bluegrass music is playing in the background and there’s an instant smell reminding of grandma’s house coming from the ancient furniture making out the upstairs café. The sound of simmering tea, dim light and a selection of cakes and scones makes the words on the front door true: “Welcome home.”
Down the narrow staircase, decorated with paintings of faces long forgotten, I am led to the heart of the shop. It is filled with clothes of all shapes and sizes, from hats and dolls to shoes and dresses once blissfully worn in the 1920s, now hanging on the clothes rails and walls of The Vintage Emporium. Oliver Stanion, 28, and his business partner Jessica Collins, 25, founded The Vintage Emporium in May last year. Stanion, with a Bachelor in Fashion Design, used to sell his designs to the previous shop in the facilities.
Stanion and Collins were quick to take over the store and started the process of making it their own when word got out that the former owner was closing it down. Stanion said: “None of this was planned, it has all been patched together, which is probably why it has worked out so well.”
On one couch lies Pan, the dog, throwing dull glances at the costumers, and the deerhound Peggy has occupied floor space to take an afternoon nap. Stanion points to a gold sequined dress on the wall behind him: “We went through an obsession with art deco clothes from the 1920s. We paid £1,000 for this one dress. Almost bankrupt us did it.” “The clothes are a personal collection. An obsession,” said Stanion.
He revealed that there are some pieces he’d rather keep to himself and not sell at all. The clothes are all handpicked and collected from all around Europe. They are from the Victorian period, none younger than the 1950s. What throws some potential shoppers off are The Vintage Emporium’s apparently expensive prices. “People go to other vintage shops in the area where they sell so called ‘vintage’ pieces from the 1990s and charge ten pounds, so they don’t understand why pieces we sell from the 1910s, for example, may cost ÂŁ450.”
The café is what keeps the shop going, as they might not sell more than a piece or two of clothing a day. “We’re young, and don’t have a family to take care of. Just having the clothes are enough. God, that sounded really cheesy, didn’t it?” said Stanion grinning before going on: “This is more than just a shop and old clothes. It’s a passion.”
Images from A Filha do Chefe, The Vintage Guide to London