“We’re talking Lacroix. Fiorucci. Halston. Moschino. Rachel Antonoff. Samantha Pleet. Girl Scouts of America,” Tavi Gevinson wrote, announcing to Instagram that she would be flogging a series of sentimental, hard-to-part-with pieces from her personal wardrobe in order to raise money for Housing Works, a New York non-profit which supports those affected by AIDS and homelessness.
It’s not just items of clothing that the Gossip Girl actor is selling, however, but the star-studded stories of their genesis. For example, the sale includes a dress, which was originally given to Gevinson by Courtney Love; a sequin top worn to a Halloween party where Chloë Sevigny “asked who (Gevinson) was dressed as and (she) said um YOU in The Last Days of Disco,”; and a particular jumper which led “some conspiracy theorists to believe that (she) helped Stanley Kubrick fake the moon landing.”
The actor noted how the sale of these pieces would “keep this weird chain of history going with these clothes, because so many of them have an interesting story.” Of course, Gevinson knows the power of a good yarn and an even better outfit, having founded The Style Rookie – one of the OG fashion blogs – which landed the, then 11-year-old, front row seats next to Anna Wintour at major runway shows. Having later moved to New York to tread the boards, Housing Works, which is also an enormous second hand shop, quickly became one of Gevinson’s favourite haunts – even using the space to launch her, now shuttered, magazine, Rookie.
And, buried beneath all the It girl party gear, are costumes that Gevinson pilfered from her productions of The Crucible, The Cherry Orchard, and “beloved vintage finds” – among them a thrifted, navy schoolgirl skirt that she confesses to have worn “thousands of times,” despite only costing single digits. “It PAINS ME to let these go but it’s time to shed my skin and give them a new home!!!!,” Gevinson pleaded with her followers. The Housing Works pop-up is now online, and shoppable here.