“Collecting fashion is a relatively recent phenomenon,” says the Danish, London-based stylist and creative consultant Alexandra Carl, who has written the book “Collecting Fashion: Nostalgia, Passion, Obsession”. The book gathers the preeminent collection of archival obsessives, capturing the closets of an impressive list of fashion and design talent, and gives the readers insight in how to collect an impressive wardrobe.
Each of the 20 chapters in Alexandra Carl’s Collecting Fashion (Rizzoli, out this month), covers a subject and their accumulations – and each person recalls something that can guide you. “It’s emotional. It’s an intense dedication and calling,” says Carl of the enduring motivation to collect.
Carl’s book surveys the wardrobes of the people who pioneered, from French fashion designer Michêle Lamy’s extensive Comme des Garçon archive to Berlin showroom Endyma’s Helmut Lang collection. Carl, who has worked with photographers such as Viviane Sussen and Jürgen Teller, spent three years travelling around the world to get insight in the archives of the most prolific fashion collectors, including the late Azzedine Alaia, Chanel sound director Michel Gaubert and Carla Sozzani, founder of Milanese retailer 10 Corso Como.

Archives take time to build, wardrobes or storage units packed to the brim with rare, archival shoes, dresses, and handbags, some never worn, are only perfected after countless hours spent on Ebay and in the depths of obscured vintage sales. The results end up being remarkable representations of fashion history.
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Carl says it was her own attachment to the clothes left in assiduously well-maintained condition by her Danish grandmother that first ignited her curiosity. “Everything has a memory,” she says of this mysterious animating quality of putting something on and living with it. “You have to look closely to realize why it’s an amazing piece. Then you cannot get it out of your head.”
Each collection she describes is filled with stories of “the liaison between past and present, history and the moment, affection and consumption”. The book has been written in collaboration with the Italian writer Angelo Flaccavento, and professor and art advisor Dimitrios Tsivrikos, a specialist in consumer psychology.

In order for fashion to march forward, it must possess the ability to look back. For the fashion obsessed, one’s archive is surely a testament to the act of preservation and, of course, a sophisticated symbol of taste.
“I once had to go to a chiropractor because a pillow dress was putting too much pressure on my neck,” says Michèle Lamy in the first chapter, “but I kept wearing it anyway.”
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Carl grew up with a mum who was a collector. “As a child I got to wear her clothes and her influence – along with that of my grandmother, who taught me how to make clothes. It’s probably where this all comes from,” she says.

Readers will get an in-depth look at Michèle Lamy’s extensive Comme des Garçon archive, Sarah Andelman’s covetable (and colorful) sneaker and t-shirt collection, ENDYMA’s growing Helmut Lang archive, Zaha Hadid’s fabulous footwear assemblage, and more. This tome, over 300 pages long, painstakingly showcases the subjects’ archive while showing off top-tier labels and hard-to-obtain seasons: Issey Miyake, Maison Martin Margiela, Thierry Mugler, John Galliano, and Alexander McQueen, among others, and serves as an indispensable reference for those interested in fashion history and building their own archive.
The decisions within the book—what to omit, what to include—seem infinite, but Carl’s discernment is unflagging. Her love is for the sleuth. The completist. The obsessive. “It was always the essence of the book,” she says. This gnawing fixation. It’s also what separated some from others. “There are people who have amazing collections, but it was driven by financial access.” Every subject needed to be as emotionally, as dizzyingly, in love—as haunted by detail as she is.
“Nowadays, people buy things for exposure and wait 90 minutes for delivery. Everything is so readily available so you miss out the element of desire,” says Carl. ”Brands don’t really inspire that in you anymore.”

Alexandra Carl is an acclaimed fashion stylist and consultant and recipient of the British Fashion Council’s New Wave Creative Award.
Angelo Flaccavento is an Italian fashion journalist, writer, and curator.
Dr. Dimitrios Tsivrikos is a noted university professor, curator, and art advisor. A pioneer in the field of psychology, he has advised and managed international contemporary art collections, and led sales with Christie’s and Sotheby’s.
“‘What’s old is new’ is a phrase often used to describe fashion trends since so much of what was created in the past influences the present day. In Collecting Fashion, clothes enthusiasts obsessed with the industry (and everyone else who finds it intriguing) will have their passion ignited by the sheer magnitude and detail of this insightful survey. It features some of the most significant archival collections from a coveted group of fashion and design influencers’ closets, including Michèle Lamy’s expansive Comme des Garçons archive and Zaha Hadid’s impressive footwear assortment. With a deep dive into the collections’ history, top-tier labels, and hard-to-obtain seasons, this book spans 300 pages and also includes essays from top thinkers and writers offering keen insights to accompany each selection,” wrote Boston Magazine.
How to Collect an Impressive Wardrobe, written by Tor Kjolberg