The Tamesis
“Talk to your friends about what they want,” Chloe Malle joked to guests gathered in SoHo to visit Vogue Vintage Market for the first time the night before it opened. “There’s going to be some serious competition tonight,” she added with a laugh.
As a result, both Malle and the night’s winner, Doja Cat (who came to celebrate her April cover appearance and serve as auction host), had their sights set on one particularly coveted piece: an interlocking bracelet from Khaite’s Spring 2024 collection.
Just like that, the tone was set. At parties co-hosted by Mahler, Alex Consani and Paloma Elsesser, guests may find themselves talking to someone whose eyes have wandered elsewhere—over the shoulder, across the room, toward better things. Only here, the distraction isn’t another guest, but a row of pristine Chanel couture at staggering prices.
Spanning three floors, the evening showcased vintage and archival fashion, spread out on shelves and bringing together a complete Fashion Ecosystem: Sales contributors like Paloma Elsesser and Emma Chamberlain; April issue stars Doja Cat and the cast of the new Broadway production of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” — Harvey Gillen, Stephanie Hsu, Sam Pinkleton and Mikayla Jay Rodriguez — who grace the pages of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” Fashion In the feature film shot by Norman Jean Roy; there are also designers, editors and well-dressed regulars. And most of them are here to shop!
As far as Doja Cat is concerned, she’s ready for anything. “I personally love vintage. I was up at about 5:00 a.m. last night… looking at sunglasses — especially Christian Dior,” she said. Shoot her for the first time Fashion “This is a really big thing for me,” she added, noting that wearing her own hair — rather than one of her many wigs — feels “very, very freeing and I’m very, very, very satisfied.” She wore a pleated dress clasped with a brooch, giving it an Old Hollywood feel, paired with towering leopard print platforms and a pair of vintage Fendi glasses that looked like trophies. At one point, she stopped at a pair of Alexander McQueen platform boots with armadillo-like heels—dramatic, sculptural, and completely hers—before discovering they were a size 39. (She wears size 37. Sigh.)
Nearby, Elsesser embodied the spirit of the evening in more ways than one. “I’m passionate about vintage and round fashion,” she says. “eBay has long been my favorite resource for spending time finding things I love.” Wearing a signature black pleated Prada dress and crop top from Spring 2009, she stood next to her rack of clothes—plucked directly from her own closet—in what has quickly become one of the busiest corners of the room.
It didn’t take long for it to attract a crowd. Alex Consani, in a sculptural Sacai look with a flared skirt, targeted a pony hair, beaded Marni cropped jacket and danced around the party in it as if it was already hers.
Elsewhere, designer Jonathan Cohen made a quick and decisive choice, walking away with an Hermès houndstooth tie in hand. Meanwhile, Chamberlain, who just flew in from Los Angeles, is already on the hunt for her next piece, lingering on some flowy dresses and effortless spring separates. “I’m working on my dress line,” she said. “I don’t have many dresses.”
By evening, Mahler’s prediction proved accurate. This competition isn’t hypothetical—it’s already happening. This was just a preview of what was to come when the auction officially opened the next morning.
