From the Lower East Side to Christie’s
-While attending Christie’s fall auction preview I met Mark and Katy, owners of Resurrection, a vintage clothing store, and now sellers to Christie’s prestigious auction house. I was intrigued by the story of how they ended up with the most comprehensive collection of 20th century avant-garde clothing that Christie’s has ever sold.-
Katy Rodriguez and Mark Haddawy began selling vintage clothing out of an old funeral parlor in New York’s Lower East Side. Thirteen years later they are selling over 250 rare pieces through Christie’s London auction house.
Reminiscing about the start of their now well-known store, Resurrection, Rodriguez recalled setting up the store by herself during a giant snow storm in the winter of 1996, before Haddawy joined her in New York. They began their store in a tiny space with an initial rent of $1100 per month. “New York was a very different place back then. You were able to start a store with very little capital”, according to business partners, Rodriguez and Haddawy. They even had memories of paying their first landlord in installments.
Two years after they first opened, they moved the store to its current location at 217 Mott Street between Spring and Prince. In 2000 they opened a second store in Los Angeles. They both currently reside in California.
It was Haddawy that first had the idea to try to reach a broader audience through the auction, according to Rodriguez. This is the first auction for Rodriguez and Haddawy. This is also the first composite clothing sale for Christie’s, according to Pat Frost, head of textiles for Christie’s in London. Generally fashion auctions see only a few interesting pieces for sale at a time. The Resurrection sale includes designers such as Pierre Cardin, Paco Rabanne, Gianni Versace, Vivienne Westwood and more.
The auction was unveiled along with Christie’s sales of contemporary art and design. The sale’s preview coincided with New York’s fall fashion week.
The collection contains pieces from all revolutionary movements of the 20th century. The clothing is both rare and in great condition. It spans from the 1960’s through the nineties.
“The important thing we want to accomplish with the collection is what they say about society at the time” said Simon Andrews, director of 20th century decorative art and design at Christie’s. This collection is “young and youthful”, said Rodriguez.
In conjunction with the sale, Christie’s and Resurrection produced a book that contained all of the clothing photographed on models. Rodriguez and Haddawy felt that it was important to see all of the clothing in print. It was fun and exciting, said Rodriguez. They had never seen some of the clothing on a person until the auction’s photo shoot. In addition, friends, colleagues, and clients in the fashion industry with ties to Resurrection wrote their thoughts on the store for the book’s publication.
“It is exciting for clothing to be taken seriously, the tide is turning”, said Rodriguez.
-The auction will take place on October 30, 2008 at Christie’s South Kensington.