When I learned that designer Glenn Martens was exiting Y/Project after more than a decade at the experimental label’s helm, I promptly clicked over to The Real Real’s website and bought the deconstructed denim and shearling jacket I’d spent weeks eyeing. Knowing that the designer’s pieces for the brand would imminently be in short supply was all the incentive I needed. And I love it; the oversized, slouchy shape gives me a feeling of disguise and protection, while the double layering of its vest-like, shearling interior and vented armholes invariably provokes interest. And though I have no intentions of selling it, knowing that the jacket’s collectible status is currently fetching prices as high as ten times what I originally paid is the cherry on top.
Many loyal Dries Van Noten customers, myself included, did the same when the beloved Belgian designer announced his retirement this past spring. Though the longstanding label continues on in his absence—with Julian Klausner recently announced as the new creative director—the collections designed by Van Noten himself now hold even more preciousness. His pieces are often the first I seek out at designer resale shops.
Styles from Phoebe Philo’s now-mythologized years at Celine may remain some of the most in-demand when it comes to secondhand and consignment retail, yet there’s a notable handful of others worth seeking out, whether for the distinctive viewpoints their creative directors brought during a limited span of time, or for the resurgence potential of a particular trademark aesthetic; or even for the anachronistic ways some of these labels have held up. Fashion is an inherently ephemeral business, but we’re prone to forget too easily these days. Below are five other designers to add to your saved searches.
Sies Marjan
Most fashion insiders familiar with Dutch designer Sander Lak’s vibrant collections for this luxury label, which he founded and launched in 2016, will agree that its run ended far too prematurely. The brand shuttered in 2020 due to financial struggles exasperated by the pandemic, yet there’s hardly been a designer since to match Lak’s remarkable eye for color: acid-hued greens, inky midnight blues, and deeply-saturated pinks, for example, in textural materials like ribbed velvet that enhanced their intense iridescence. Perhaps not for shrinking violets, Lak’s recognizable colors and wares engender a visible bond of sorts amongst wearers—one often affirmed without the need for words.
