Vintage Couture and Accessories Auction Leslie Hindman Auctioneers  April 19, 2009

Galanos Black Evening Ensemble-Sold $549

Donald Brooks Silver Dress-Sold $1,586

Sonia Rykiel Ostrich Evening Coat-Sold $3,172

Halston Aubergine Chiffon And Sequin Evening Gown-Sold $2,684

Judith Leiber Pink Pig Minaudiere-Estimate $1000-2000- Sold $1342

A Gripoix for Chanel Pink, Purple and Green Pate Necklace with Rhinestones-Estimate $4000- Sold $4880

Harvey Berin Green Chiffon Evening Gown-Estimate-$500- Sold $366

A Hermes Slate Grey Kelly Bag    $3,904

A Jean Patou Black Silk Dress $3,416

A Pierre Cardin Aqua Silk Couture Dress $2,074

A Genny Oro Leather and Faille Gown $2,684

A Halston Black Evening Ensemble $2,318

www.lesliehindman.com/departments/couture/

A vintage Cartier watch, a pair of Levis jeans, from the 1970’s. A Gucci handbag from the 1980’s. Any of these pieces purchased at auction, estate or a high-end vintage store are indeed “vintage” with the same semblance of high quality workmanship.

“Vintage” referring to the period when theses items were manufactured; where counterfeited heavily during these same times. Many vintage knock-offs could still be circulating today with buyers paying real prices for fakes.

In the 1970’s the counterfeit fashion trade was already estimated in the tens of millions of dollars. ”From 1960 to 1970, we all sold too many licenses,” Marc Vincent, of Saint Laurent, admits. Most designers during this time did not control manufacturing, which was done by licensees.

Several counterfeit Cartier boutiques sprung up during this era selling thousands of watches.

An early opportunist in the Mexico knockoff trade was a man named Fernando Pelletier. Cartier had held Mexican trademark rights, but in 1968 failed to renew them, thus allowing Mr. Pelletier’s company to start its own line of products labeled ”Cartier,” including jewelry and watches. It took over ten years for Cartier to win its legal battle with Pelletier.  Cartier estimated that 40,000 fake high-quality ”Tank” watches had been sold during 1976. Christian Dior, with annual sales of $365 million in 1980, spent $406,000 protecting its 813 registered trademarks.

Rare Vintage Levi jeans can sell today for $3,000. But is the classic vintage pair that you purchased a rip-off from the very same Vintage era the jeans came from?  In the late 70’s two Southern California men offered a private investigator posing as a clothing buyer 50,000 pairs of the counterfeit jeans a month for nine months. During this period in Italy the number one selling jean was Levi. The number two brand was counterfeit Levis.

Jordache jeans estimated their loss from counterfeiters in 1981 was in excess of over $1 million dollars alone. Levi Strauss seized $2.5 million worth of jeans in 1977 from a ring that extended from Britain to Switzerland, Italy, Belgium and Taiwan.

Many fakes of the late 70’s and early 80’s were produced to the same standards as the real deal. Quality fabrics used in counterfeiting were often sourced from the same suppliers. Louis Vuitton bag counterfeiters often used the same French zipper. Early fake Cartier watches were made of solid gold and were indistinguishable unless you dissembled the timepiece. Christian Dior fashion knockoffs were so good that even Dior’s people had difficulty telling the difference.

How can you tell if your Levi’s are vintage knockoffs?  Stitching, labeling and fabric are clues to look for. Often the denim in counterfeits is 10-ounce instead of 12-or 14-ounce; thread may be thinner, stitching sloppy, seams not straight, zippers of cheaper quality.

Jordache says a shopper can be sure about Jordache jeans in two ways: the horse head on the zipper and the initials ”JD” on the back of the button at the waist.

A Cartier watch is better taken to Cartier so that the internal time piece is inspected; counterfeiters used cheap internal mechanisms in their watches.

Link to Vintage Fashion Media- “Louis Vuitton- Telling Real From Fakes”

http://vintagefashionnews.com/vintage-fashion-media/

By now you know at the recent Academy Award’s we admired Penelope Cruz wearing her 1950s vintage Pierre Balmain strapless ivory lace gown. Cruz purchased the dress  in Beverly Hills at Lily et Cie. The original sketch of the dress still exists at Pierre Balmain. The dress took well over a half a year to complete back in the 50’s. Recent market prices for a Pierre Balmain couture ball gown of that era will set you back under $3,000.

We don’t know what kind of bucks Penelope layed out for her Oscar dress, however vintage couture pieces at Lily et Cie can go as high as $75,000.

Ebay sales jumped over 75% one day after the death of Yves Saint Laurent. The short term market frenzy was perhaps eager sellers trying to unload their fashion collectables on the unsophisticated buyer who anticipate that death equates to opportunity to resell at even higher returns. Perhaps a word of caution to “collectors” that assume death equates to financial opportunity.

At the recent Christie’s vintage couture auction in New York a 1958 Yves Saint Laurent French evening dress was estimated to sell for as high as $12,000. Christie’s conservative estimate was $1,000 to $1,500 and actually sold for$1,063.

An Yves Saint Laurent cut-out floral necklace from 1990 was estimated in some sophisticated circles to sell for as high as $5000-$6000. Although Christie’s conservative estimate of $1,000 to $1,500 was nearer the mark, the necklace sold for $1,125.

The market for fashion can be incredibly unpredictable. When Gianni Versace was murdered in 1997, his clothes were not in vogue at the time and didn’t incite a rush to buy.

At the SAG awards Angelina Jolie’s vintage Hermes dress fueled speculation amongst the press that the actress is pregnant. However many true Vintage collectors are more focused more on the dress itself.

The Hermes dress, a tie-dye brown horse print is from Juliana Cairone Rare Vintage collection. Angelina was not the first to wear a Cairone’s Rare Vintage; Debra Messing wore a Vintage Oscar de la Renta at a recent Red Carpet event.

Opened in February of 2007 Juliana Cairone’s store features vintage designs by Loris Azzaro, Chanel, Ossie Clark, Halston and Givenchy.

Cairone shops mainly in France and Italy where unique couture pieces seem an easier find. Juliana’s collection features those hard to find vintage pieces. She describes her collection as “Exclusive and glamorous pieces from the twentieth century’s most significant design houses”. However she does not limit her wares to just earlier periods. You may find designers as recently as of 2006.

No price tag on Angelina Jolie’s Hermes dress. But a rare Yves Saint Laurent gown was selling recently for $12,000 at Cairone’s shop in Manhattan.

American Apparel opens new vintage clothing store in California featuring handpicked vintage clothing from the 1950’s to the 1990’s. The new vintage store is named California Vintage and opened in mid November. American Apparel is a worldwide company that operates 175 stores in 13 countries including the U.S.