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  • I'm Kim Bhasin, luxury reporter at Bloomberg,

  • here to invite you into the most exclusive realms

  • of luxury retail.

  • This is Invitation Only.

  • Today, I'm in Chelsea, the Manhattan neighborhood

  • with everything a fancy person could ask for.

  • Tons of super expensive art.

  • A bustling, pricey market.

  • And a formally posh hotel turned historic landmark.

  • Once home to notable fancy guests like Lillie Langtry,

  • Milos Forman, Jane Fonda, and Bette Midler.

  • So with its knack at preserving old beautiful things,

  • it shouldn't be a surprise that Chelsea is also home

  • to the world's fanciest used clothing shop,

  • New York Vintage.

  • (doorbell rings)

  • Hi.

  • Hello.

  • Hi, welcome.

  • How are you?

  • I'm good, how are you?

  • Great!

  • So we're in our retail store right now, the bottom floor,

  • which is open to the public and anybody can come in and shop

  • and purchase these wonderful, rare pieces of vintage,

  • and then the second floor is a private showroom

  • that houses over a 150 years of important fashion.

  • Balenciaga, Halston, Schiaparelli, Fortuny, Worth,

  • really special, rare pieces that are museum caliber,

  • basically impossible to come by.

  • Downstairs, all these pieces are for sale.

  • Upstairs they're for rent.

  • Who shops up there?

  • Who's allowed up in the treasure trove?

  • We work with editors and stylists for industry use,

  • but we have a lot of our private clientele, celebrities

  • that will come up for fittings for various events as well.

  • What kind of celebrities?

  • Um, every kind. (laughs)

  • The A-list kind.

  • Do your dresses show up on the red carpet?

  • Oh all the time, absolutely, yeah.

  • And to see the clothing kind of take on a different life

  • is incredible.

  • To get an appointment upstairs, can anyone just walk in

  • or call you and get an appointment to go check it out?

  • It's not that easy. (laughs)

  • You have to have credentials.

  • Do you vet people?

  • We vet people.

  • Everyone is vetted before they have access

  • to the archive, absolutely.

  • Am I allowed up there?

  • Um, I'll let you have a peek. (laughs)

  • I'll give you a little guided tour.

  • (upbeat, rhythmic music)

  • Oh, look at this.

  • Ready to be inspired?

  • Uh-huh.

  • So over here we have an Adrian, this is 1930s.

  • He designed costumes for over 250 films

  • during Hollywood's Golden Era.

  • Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford, and Garbo,

  • all of these ladies wore his gowns.

  • He's known for this silhouette, the bias 1930s dress.

  • These are corsets from the 1880s.

  • 1880s?

  • Uh-huh, 1880s.

  • We have some examples of some McQueen headpieces.

  • Over here we have Gianni Versace.

  • Back here we have a bra that was worn by Lady Gaga.

  • I believe this was just for an editorial.

  • Just to wear, 'cause she's Lady Gaga, of course.

  • And by the way, this belonged to Josephine Baker,

  • so this bra is from the 1920s,

  • a lot of famous breasts were... (laughs)

  • At this rack.

  • Well at this rack (laughing)...

  • So this is the famous Sarah Jessica Parker,

  • "Sex and the City" bird.

  • (dramatic orchestra music)

  • Has anyone tried to buy this off of you?

  • I would say the most interesting solicitation was

  • from a Saudi princess who was buying up everything

  • from "Sex and the City" the film,

  • and offered a very large sum of money.

  • Of course we turned it down--

  • How large is large?

  • Six figures.

  • Oh, for this bird.

  • Yes for this little bird.

  • (slow, deep bass)

  • I've had some moments where I've realized the impact

  • we've had on the fashion industry.

  • I can share an experience a few years ago where I was

  • up in my showroom just working away.

  • I had my three children running around me

  • and I get a call on my cell phone from the White House,

  • "We'd like to put Michelle Obama in vintage."

  • Just never knowing what or who you're working with,

  • knowing that somehow you inspired someone to take an idea

  • and to run with it.

  • So you're hearing all this talk

  • about the retail apocalypse, retail is dying,

  • how is that affecting this business?

  • It's so scary, I've been here for almost 20 years

  • and I don't think that anybody on my block

  • is really standing since we first opened,

  • and I think that the reason why we haven't really

  • been impacted is because it is an experience

  • when you come here.

  • We've been asked by schools to have private tours,

  • we've opened our archive to students for research,

  • you just feel good coming in and you feel

  • like you've walked into a time capsule of fashion history.

  • (laughs) All in one place.

I'm Kim Bhasin, luxury reporter at Bloomberg,

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