TIME CAPSULE: Fans of vintage luxury will have the opportunity to snap up a piece of fashion history next week when a significant part of the Quidam de Revel collection goes under the hammer in Paris.
Luxury and couture creations from throughout the 1920 onward, including pieces designed by Gabrielle Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Madame Grès, Vionnet, Schiaparelli, Jeanne Lanvin, André Courrèges and Martin Margiela, are among the 420 lots to be offered at auction house Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr on Oct. 2.
They are part of the collection of vintage fashion showroom Quidam de Revel, created by husband-and-wife duo Philippe and Emmanuelle Harros more than 20 years ago with the aim of building and preserving an archive of high-end fashion for future generations.
For more than two decades, brands, designers and artisans as well as historians and people from the entertainment world sought inspiration in their appointment-only showroom, in which they amassed more than 4,000 pieces over the years from auctions and private collections. The pieces were rented out to fashion houses, for instance, to provide insight for their designs.
“Their approach was really related to their specific tastes, they didn’t want it to be a history of fashion from A to Z, they built it according to their sensibilities,” said Hubert Felbacq, head of fashion and bags at Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr, of the collection. “They’re addicted to cut and the shape of clothing, whether fluidity and bias cuts in the ’30s or the fluid cuts and construction of Japanese designers or Margiela,” he explained.
“There are remarkable pieces designed by Gabrielle Chanel, Dior pieces from the Bohan era, and a selection of pieces from Courrèges and Cardin,” he said.
A particular focus are key designs from the ’60s and ’70s, with a selection by houses including André Courrèges, Paco Rabanne, Pierre Cardin, Bill Gibb, Biba and Ossie Clark. “That focus on cut also existed in the ’60s, with the space-age designs of Cardin and Courrèges and Ungaro,” Felbacq explained.
Noteworthy designs from the era up for sale include a Paco Rabanne mini dress featuring gold vinyl pellets from around 1968, with a guide price of between 4,000 and 6,000 euros, or a short navy playsuit and white Space Age flat ankle boots from André Courrèges dating from circa 1966, expected to sell for between 1,500 and 3,000 euros.
The Harros recently decided to wind up the activity and sell off their collection. As well as the 420 pieces up for auction on Oct. 2 in Paris, another 300 will be for sale online from Friday to Oct. 11.
The Avenue Hoche-based auction house is hosting an exhibition on Saturday, Monday and Tuesday from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. to showcase the collection ahead of the sale.