California Apparel News

Vintage lovers, rejoice. Doris Raymond, the owner of Los Angeles vintage store The Way We Wore and star of the Smithsonian Channel documentary series “L.A. Frock Stars,” has launched a new e-commerce site featuring vintage and more-recent pieces all priced at $99 and under.

Raymond had been in the process of developing the new online business, called Voguely Familiar, when she stumbled on a treasure trove of pieces in Costa Mesa, Calif., owned by a woman who was familiar with Raymond from seeing her on “L.A. Frock Stars.”

“It was a large warehouse,” Raymond said. “I would say—guesstimating—it was about 3,000 square feet. The woman had had a store that she’d closed less than 20 years ago. But she clearly had a love of fashion and continued to buy clothing that was mostly in her size, which was an Italian 42 to 46 (U.S. size 8 to 10). I would say 90 percent of the inventory was unworn.”

Raymond and The Way We Wore manager Sarah Bergman made several trips to Costa Mesa to pull pieces for the store on Los Angeles’ La Brea Avenue.

“It was Margiela and Commes des Garçons and Junya Watanabe, Issey Miyake—really wonderful things,” Raymond said.

What remained was “several thousand pieces” of primarily separates. Raymond was poised to begin the process of launching Voguely Familiar; she had trademarked the name and begun to develop the website.

“Acquiring the last batch from her was what threw me into warp speed to launch the website,” she said. “In addition to my existing warehouse, I have thousands of pieces of wonderful things that need to be worn and loved by other people.”

Voguely Familiar carries everything from vintage designers such as Adele Simpson, Suzy Perette, Norell and Pauline Tri­gere to more-recent apparel by Christian Lacroix, Rick Owens, Hermès, Prada, Burberry, Marc Jacobs and Christian Louboutin to contemporary labels such as Catherine Malandrino, BCBG, A Gold E and Calvin Klein.

“It’s everything from wonderful designer hoodies to Gaultier mesh [T-shirts] with their original $400 price tags to Moschino T-shirts,” Raymond said. “I could put some of those things in The Way We Wore, but I really want to put things on the site that are impulse-purchase material.”

The website lets visitors browse by decade or by category. Each item includes details about the measurements, the materials and the condition. In addition to apparel, the site carries footwear and accessories, including handbags and jewelry.

Raymond said the site will carry an even split of vintage and recent merchandise.

Although Voguely Familiar carries pieces for women of all ages, Raymond said her goals for the e-commerce site include opening the door to younger shoppers who may not have been able to afford the designs at The Way We Wore.

“After 12 years on La Brea, I would have a visceral reaction when I would get a young person come in and say, ‘This is too expensive for me’ and would walk out,” she said. “My intention is to inspire a younger generation to recycle, repurpose and express themselves as individuals.”