Vintage Fashion, Antique Costume & Textiles | London

Vintage Fashion, Antique Costume & Textiles | London

Date: 25th Mar, 2025 9:30
Lots: 542
Only four months into the year and we’re back with our fifth auction of 2025! This incredibly varied auction features over 540 lots of fabulous vintage fashion. As always, we are kicking off the sale in style with a fantastic selection of Chanel including classic ready-to-wear pieces by Karl Lagerfeld and Philippe Guibourge, as well as haute couture offerings. Great British designers are well represented with names such as Vivienne Westwood, John Galliano, Alexander McQueen as well as a selection of rare designs by John Flett.
 
Lots 184 to 203 of the auction feature a selection of statement gowns by the designer Michael Halpern, mainly dating from 2020 to 2023. Fantastically sculptural and lavishly embellished, these dresses are wonderful examples of the ‘unabashed glamour’ and demi couture technique Halpern’s designs are known for. Another contemporary cult designer represented in this auction is Carol Christian Poell. The reclusive avant-garde Austrian has never adhered to typical fashion seasons and operates on a limited release basis. Lots 204-218 feature a collection of rare and important leather jackets, boots, and suits that all embody Poell’s penchant for construction and unusual materials. These extremely collectable pieces are all fine examples of Poell’s alternative design sensibility. This auction features a wide selection of Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche pieces from the 1970s 1980s. Many of the fabulous pieces from Yves Saint Laurent in this auction are well documented and can be seen photographed on the catwalk. Other iconic designers of the era featured include Alaïa, Gianni Versace, Thierry Mugler, Zandra Rhodes, and Ossie Clark.
 
We are thrilled to be offering a selection of garments from the personal collection of Dame Mary Quant, who passed away in 2023. Quant had a ground-breaking career and is often credited as being the inventor of the mini skirt. Her designs are known for being emblematic of British ‘Mod’ style and she was the focus of a retrospective exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum in 2019-20. Lots 544 to 579 feature fantastic examples of Mary Quant’s most iconic designs of the 1960s and 1970s, such as mini-dresses, hot pants, pinafores and coats, most of which were worn by Quant herself. As well as designs from her eponymous brand we also have a selection from Quant’s wardrobe by a variety of different designers from Chanel to Comme des Garçons!
 
Towards the end of the auction, we have a lovely selection of 19th-century dresses and accessories, including unusual and interesting corsets and other examples of historical undergarments. We also have some fabulous silk gowns: two particularly stunning examples are lot 672, a green figured silk brocade evening gown, circa 1845, and lot 666, a sapphire-blue taffeta gown, late 1860s - early 1870s. If you missed your chance in February to participate in our historical Empire of Fashion auction, fret not: we have a further selection of pieces from the renowned Baretto Lancaster collection of Napoleonic & Regency Dress on offer in this auction, including a lovely roller-printed day dress, a fabulous pink spencer, and a lavishly embroidered gentleman’s coat.
 
For more information on how to bid, please click here. Live bidding is now possible via our website on sale day. In order to bid online, please ensure you have created an account with us and that your account is enabled for live bidding - new clients will need to email us a form of photo ID, proof of address and paid invoices from other auction houses where appropriate. Once you have created an account and have been approved to bid, please click the purple 'Pre-register for live bidding' button which will appear on the online catalogue. You then need to accept the terms and conditions to proceed. On the day of the sale, a button marked 'Bid live' will appear on the website and clicking this will allow you to access the live bidding platform. Please note that there is an additional 1.5% charge plus VAT for any lots won via our online bidding platform. Please also note that online bidding is automatically capped at £6,000 in total - if you envisage that you will exceed this amount, please contact us directly so we can remove the bidding cap - we may ask for further information from you before doing this.
 
Clients who prefer to bid via Invaluable still have this option and can access the catalogue here. Please note the charge for bidding online via the Invaluable platform is 3% plus VAT. We strongly advise that you register to bid in advance of the auction and not the day of, as we cannot guarantee approval once the auction has begun.
 
 
 

Friday 21st March, 9:30am-5:00pm

Sunday 23rd March, 11:00am-4:00pm

Monday 24th March, 9:30am-3:00pm

Additional viewing times may be considered, by special request.

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