Vintage chic

Beijing

A capital shop and the surrounding street find glamor in the clothing of yesteryear. Han Bingbin suits up for a stroll down memory lane.

When it comes to fashion, human imagination and creativity do have boundaries. That's why designers have to often look back at the past, picking up elements of an old fashion and bestowing it with new vitality.

There is a nice term for that nostalgic attitude - vintage. That has become a significant fashion phenomenon in the United States, Europe and Japan, where a considerable number of vintage clothing shops are giving fashion lovers a chance to look different and special.

Now Beijing has picked up the trend. Mega Mega Vintage, a small vintage shop located in the equally nostalgic Gulou Dajie, makes an art of selling meticulously selected vintage clothing and accessories purchased from abroad.

Some say the shop is reminiscent of Brick Lane in London, a hub for some of London's trendiest vintage shops. One Brick Lane influence: the fitting room designed in the form of a traditional London phone box. Each corner of the shop is decorated with memory-evoking photographs and posters that - along with on-sale denim flares, leather jackets and dresses and skirts of the mid-20th century - conjure up a fancy scene that evokes 1950s and '60s Hollywood movies.

The shop offers second hand fashion pieces, including clothing, shoes, accessories and bags, from dozens of top brands such as Prada and Salvatore Ferragamo. Some small items sell for as little as 25 yuan; most items go for 150 yuan and above. Leather products may cost several thousands, but such one-of-a-kind pieces to be found in Beijing and even China still represent a worthy investment.

The owner of Mega Mega Vintage, Liu Ke, claims he's doing more than selling fashion. It's the promotion of an independent aesthetic, he said: You don't follow what's deemed a trend but mix and match what you have to form a style that's your own. This recycling of fashion, as he describes it, is also an environmentally friendly action.

Once a rocker, Liu was among the first group of Chinese who expressed themselves by wearing second-hand clothes. This new attitude made him realize that vintage clothing may have a potential market in China, and Mega Mega was born.

Liu now asks his American friends to scour local second-hand markets and antique shops. Even more painstakingly, he often goes abroad himself in search of new goods that will sustain M&M's admirable taste.

But he doesn't much like to go to crowded places, he said, preferring a solitary environment for thinking. He loves to read books and magazines and watch movies from between the 1930s and 1980s. Most of his inspiration comes that way - though he sees possibilities outside, too. For example, he's intrigued by the idea of a global trip by boat .

(China Daily 02/27/2011 page15)