By Bianca Posterli
Save the planet and your style at the same time by dressing eco in vintage finds, Mother Earth approved.
Vintage is an obsession. But really, it’s not shocking that everyone from models to actresses to editors are all obsessed with vintage finds. There’s the thrill of scouring stores, the elation at the find, and the excitement of knowing the chances of ever being in the same dress as someone else are so low it’s almost impossible.
But while vintage finds are really desirable for the style and the historical element, the pieces are actually 
important for another reason.
“Shopping vintage is the perfect way to be eco!” explains Keni Valenti, the king of all vintage finds. “You’re not killing anything to make more fabric. It’s also a way to make sure these clothes have a history.” For those fashion lovers who aren’t exactly into looking for ways to save the planet, buying and wearing vintage is an amazing way to be green without changing the way one dresses or shops. Or starting a compost in your backyard.
“Shopping vintage is the perfect way to be eco! It’s also a way to make sure these clothes have a history.”
Keni began his experience in the industry as a fashion designer but moved into the vintage realm, and through his travels over the years has amassed a collection of over 7,000 pieces for his showroom in New York. “All new fashion is based on old fashion anyway,” he said. “Walk into any department store and you have all the decades in front of you now. Now even the ’90s are vintage.”
Models head to Keni for his vintage pieces for many occasions; he recently dressed Caroline Trentini for the Costume Institute Met Gala in 2008, and Karen Elson consistently buys off of his eBay store. The experience of the industry gives girls the history behind the clothing and the appreciation for the design, as well as its second life.
“You get someone like Kate Moss [in the showroom] and she’s like, ‘Just lock me in here forever.’ Models are more sensitive to design because of doing the shows and meeting the designers.”
While vintage has its own cool factor simply because it provides an archive of fashion, it’s actually amazing because the clothes have a second life and are saved from a slow and sad disappearance after their first owner discards them.
“The clothes live again,” he said of vintage collecting. “[Otherwise] it would probably be in the trash, but it lives and the designers are happy.” Not only are the designers happy, but your wardrobe is pleased with its newest acquisition, and the environment has one less reason to worry.
Show room:
155 West 29th Street
3rd Floor - Room C5
New York, NY 10001
Tel: (917) 686-9553
http://www.kenivalenti.com/
Ebay store: http://www.stores.ebay.com/Retrocouture-boutique
Model Clientele: Frankie Rayder, Naomi Campbell, Helena Christensen, Karen Elson, Kate Moss, Caroline Trentini
