Described by many as “the Rolls Royce of the Vintage Fashion Fairs”, this unique event takes place approximately every five to six weeks.
Leading vintage fashion clothing Dealers, from all over the UK and abroad, gather under one roof to share their prized stash of highly sought-after wares spanning from 1800 to 1980. Visitors will find an array of handbags, linen, lace, embroidery, shoes, hats, gowns, chiffons, beaded dresses, textiles, needle work, necklaces, gloves, trimmings, fashion magazines, costume jewellery, feathers boas, compacts, combs, fans …… and all more competitively priced than in trendy shops and at auctions.
The fair’s relaxed, informal and magical atmosphere belies the consistently high standards maintained by the Organisers. Visited by many at the fore-front of fashion, the fair has something for everyone whether the budget is big or small. Attracting visitors from all over the world, it has become a Mecca for fashion designers, costumiers, models, trend-spotters, vintage fans and fashion students.
The story behind the Vintage Fashion Fair
The show is the brain child of Paola Francia-Gardiner and Alberto Ricca (Paola is the creative force and Alberto the organisational supreme). An experienced antique dealer, Paola used to buy, sell and indeed wear vintage fashion in the late 70’s. At that time, she got to know lot of people who were selling vintage clothes. By the early 90’s the market was almost dead – no one was buying the clothes because the fashion scene had move on. The dealers were complaining to her that they had lot of stock and did not know what to do with it. With an innovative approach, in 1999 she decided to organise a fair that incorporated not just vintage clothes but also accessories and textiles. And it was indeed Paola who first coined the term “vintage fashion” that is now widely used.
For the past nineteen years, P & A Antiques have been organising specialist Events. For the past twelve years have been based at the magnificent large Hall at Hammersmith Town Hall, putting together around nine Vintage Fashion Fair a year as well as other fairs dedicated to Antique Textiles, Tribal Art and Decorative Antiques Fair.
Forthcoming Dates
Sunday 29th November 2020
Sunday 17th January 2021