I think one of the most challenging parts of collecting anything is knowing where to start. But once you pop, you really can’t stop — eventually, an obsessive knowledge for learning and cultivating ultimately takes over.
Enter: Atlanta-based stylist Brandon Johnson, who knows everything about building a collection of designer vintage clothing. I first “met” Brandon on Instagram and immediately fell in love with his knowledgeable posts about his finds.
This is someone who lives and breathes fashion and gets so much joy out of their finds — we could all stand to learn something!
I asked Brandon for the backstory on his personal collection, his most incredible finds ever, and some tips to help us build our own.
How did you first get into collecting?
I first got into collecting vintage around the time I was 15 years old (circa 2005). I was a teenager obsessed with magazines, pop culture, and fashion with zero budget for it.
I have always loved history, old films & television, music, and antiques. I spent a lot of time with my grandma growing up and was a ‘90s kid without an iPad or unlimited streaming services to occupy my time, so I did a lot of exploring and digging around inside her house. She kept everything and then some — and some of my favorite things are still influenced by her: costume jewelry and leopard coats, to name a few.
My family wasn’t into the secondhand world, or the fashion world for that matter, but my friend’s mom was into thrifting and offered to take me along. I told myself that I wanted to find Chanel on that very first trip to Goodwill, and I walked in and manifested a brand new pair of Chanel heels from the 2004 Cruise Collection for only $15. This was kinda crazy because I’ve only run across Chanel in the wild a handful of times in all my years of thrifting. I was hooked after that.
What is it about thrifting that’s so exciting, in your opinion?
Thrifting was very exciting to me. Being able to find unique high-quality pieces and high-end labels for only a few dollars. When I was a child, I wanted to be a movie star or an archaeologist, and this sort of bridged those two worlds together.
In the 2000s, I started seeing some of my style icons like Kate Moss, Nicole Richie, and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen often wearing vintage in magazines (tabloid and high fashion). I became obsessed with the fact that these celebrities could buy anything they desired, brand new, or have designers gift them clothes, but they chose to wear pre-owned vintage pieces. It was the ultimate IYKYK in my eyes, and I wanted to wear these things that people couldn’t easily just go out and buy. I
did my absolute best to track down some of those pieces worn by them at the time, which wasn’t as easy at the time as it is now, and add them to my collection. Pucci & YSL scarves, Ted Lapidus sunglasses, Chanel totes, to name a few things. I then started reselling on eBay (also buying a lot on there) and selling in an antique/vintage store (buying a lot there as well) during high school.
When did you get really serious about building your collection?
After selling many great items, some for very little money (thanks to eBay auctions) I decided to start shifting my focus to collecting more than just selling. I started researching more on my finds, finding things held in museum archives, in fashion books, or worn by celebrities decades before.
I eventually started doing freelance styling work to give my collection a purpose, and started sourcing for people, while also still selling on the side. My love of collecting vintage has opened many doors for me, I’ve gotten to meet and work with many cool people, and have made some of my best friends because of it. I still feel the best is yet to come.
Where is your collection housed and stored?
I store 95% of my clothes at my parent’s house, where I’m fortunate to have the space to do so. My parents retired out to the Georgia countryside several years back, and I modeled my space there after Kate Moss’s attic in her country house, where she stores her archive of clothes.
I have many clothing racks, and two closets filled with all of the pieces that I’ve collected over the years. I try and separate them by style, and color, with a few racks done just by brand.
I try to stay vigilant about my clothes staying away from direct sunlight, moisture, and especially my arch nemesis: moths. Eventually, I want to have a meticulously detailed cataloged system of my items and box away certain antique items for safekeeping. The system I have in place now helps me keep track of everything if and when I do need it, but I know isn’t the most ideal for historic preservation. When I want to use or wear my pieces, I come home and alternate them out for the season or occasion.
“One instance that got my blood pumping was a ‘90s Chanel bucket bag in a suburban GA Goodwill for $16 about 12 years ago. I remember feeling euphoric for about a week after from all the excitement.”
What’s your absolute favorite piece you’ve ever found?
Choosing a favorite piece is incredibly difficult because I’ve been fortunate enough to have acquired so many incredible items over the years, literally hundreds. It’s easier to choose a favorite moment, and one instance that got my blood pumping was a ‘90s Chanel bucket bag in a suburban GA Goodwill for $16 about 12 years ago. I remember feeling euphoric for about a week after from all the excitement. It is still one of my favorite and most complimented bags to this day.
About a year or so later, I found a vintage Louis Vuitton suitcase at that same store for $150. Inside the luggage tag was a business card for the original owner, a Buckhead antique dealer, whom I learned after a quick Google deep dive had died earlier that year and her family had recently cleaned out her estate. Her obituary said she had traveled all over the world collecting antiques for her store, and I thought about how cool that this piece probably got to travel to all those places with her over the years.
Every piece has a story behind it — mystery, adventure, love story, or tragedy — and I’m always happy to have a little backstory.
One time about 12 years ago, I thrifted a vintage Chanel haute couture skirt for $5 that was missing the label, but I knew in my gut it was Chanel. The quality, hand-stitched details, French Eclair zipper, and quilted lining tipped me off, and just recently I was able to date it to 1969 from a photo that was posted on someone’s Instagram.
Then another time, I won a green Dior Haute Couture blazer from S/S 1988 on an eBay auction for $11 + shipping. I’ve found several haute couture items for under $100. Someone didn’t know what they had, which was kinda bananas, but part of the thrill of the hunt.
Where do you source the bulk of your collection?
A lot of my collection has been sourced locally at thrift stores, consignment/antique stores, and estate sales. I live in Buckhead, which is one of the nicer areas of Atlanta, and it has great estate sales and consignment stores. I work for one in the neighborhood called Labels Resale Boutique. I was a long-time shopper before finally working there about a year and a half ago.
Another local favorite store of mine is called Queenies, they have great vintage and I rarely ever leave there empty-handed. Rag-O-Rama in Little 5 Points is also a dig around and you might find a special gem kind of place. Scott’s Antique Market is a once-a-month dealers market and a vintage lovers’ paradise. It can be on the pricey side, but great to look at and get inspiration for when you’re on the hunt thrifting.
Thrifting sadly isn’t what it used to be for me anymore. I had my best luck thrifting 10+ years ago in the suburbs of Atlanta where I grew up. Many of those stores closed during the pandemic, became very picked over, or have changed up their business model. I do still thrift on occasion, when I have the time, but don’t have a particular favorite store at the moment. I always say you never know what you may find unless you stop. Thrifting is about being in the right place at the right time. I’ve found the most insane pieces in the most random hole-in-the-wall places, like a $3 Bob Mackie gown in a random thrift store I just happened to pass while driving by. I joke with my friend that I like my thrift stores to be like a dive bar, grungy, shoes sticking to the floor, because the more chaotic, the better the find sometimes. I’m a huge eBay shopper as well, and a huge chunk of my collection has been sourced from there. I have saved searches, and usually check multiple times a day for certain brands or items to see what is new. Occasionally, I shop at The RealReal and on Poshmark for items as well.
I love a bargain, and I want to feel like I’m finding the best item in the store for the best price, that’s my motto for finding items. And I have traveled to source items. Any time I go out of town, I track down places to shop: vintage, thrift, consignment, estate sales, etc. My best friend, whom I introduced to collecting, has gone to some great out-of-state estate sales for me and brought me back the most incredible pieces. She is one of the few people that I can trust to shop for me. We have had many adventures in search of clothes.
What is your dream, bucket-list find?
I have a pretty hefty bucket list of clothes and accessories I aspire to own one day, but some things I dream of finding in the wild for a deal are vintage haute couture, real deal old Balenciaga, anything Madame Grès, original Christian Dior, rare but not completely impossible. I’m waiting for someone to invite me to tour their great gran’s attic. Anything from the golden years of Yves Saint Laurent, haute couture & rive gauche, probably the designer I own the most of in my collection. SO MUCH old Alaïa. Rare Chanel from any era (Coco - Karl) is my love language. A vintage Hermès Kelly bag has been on the list since I was a teenager. I’ve heard urban legends over the years about people finding vintage Kelly bags in antique shops back in the day for like $15, so one can always dream.
What are your tips for others wishing to build their own collections?
My best advice for building a collection is to let your heart guide you. I always say the clothes find me. Let items speak to you. Some of my absolute favorite pieces are the ones I wasn’t actively looking for. I’ve found designers I knew nothing about at the time but thought the piece was beautiful and well made, which has led me down many rabbit holes, and plenty of eBay searches later to becoming some of my favorite designers to collect.
Taking the time to go to many places and dig is also extremely important. There will be lots of misses before there are hits. I didn’t build my collection up in a day, month, or year. Start by looking for brands and styles that appeal to you and ease your way into it. Once you learn what works for you, brands, styles, and vintage sizing, it’s so much easier to shop online for those things.
Know that just because it is designer, or was originally very expensive doesn’t mean it is good, or worth collecting. Unless you know it’s worth reselling, don’t buy just to buy if your heart isn’t feeling it. Even the items I buy to sell, I take a pause and ask myself, “Is this something I would want to keep if I can’t sell it?” if the answer is no, then I usually will pass. If the price is cheap enough to risk it, then yolo. You can almost always get your money out of an item and then some, or gift it to a friend if you change your mind. Some of my biggest regrets in life have been not buying things when I had the chance. Rarely, have I said the same about buying something. There are plenty of ugly pieces I’ve said no to over the years, but also plenty of pieces my friends would say are hideous that I’m madly in love with.
Don’t always listen to what your friends say. When I was 18, my friend once talked me out of buying a Chanel flap bag for $400 because it was navy, and I think about it to this very day with so much regret.
The great lessons to take away are: buy what you love, take advice from loved ones with a grain of salt, bring a Tide-to-go pen, know your measurements, bring cash, charge your phone, and always pee before you leave the house.
A tremendous thank you to Brandon for sharing this expert knowledge. You simply must follow him to get a closer look at his collection.
I agree about thrifting being more exciting 10-15 years ago, but there are still finds out there and the lure of them keeps me coming back!
What an awesome read! OMG, I want to thrift with Brandon (and you, Virginia!) - it's so fun to do it with people who Know Fashion. I've found so many good things (I regret letting go of a Dries beaded top that I paid $3.00 for!), and passed up many, to my regret.