As another school year came to an end, the current Saint Martins cohort held their very own closet sale, flogging both archive pieces and their own original designs
If you have at least a passing interest in fashion, you’ll have noticed that archive sales are having a bit of a moment right now. It seems that everyone from emerging designers to established brands are flogging their back catalogues for some change, with lines of dedicated fans lining the block to acquire a piece of their favourite label. Call it a recession indicator for cash-strapped brands, or a community drive for obsessed fashion stans, but they show no sign of abating – and Central Saint Martins’ own recent edition was proof of that.
Last month, Fashion Communication student Harim Kim set up the end-of-year archive sale Moving Out Service in Hackney Wick, a unique chance for the university’s fashion students to come together and sell their wares to the public. “As an international student living in London, I found myself constantly moving, and I kept seeing clothes and belongings being thrown away,” Kim tells me in a conversation over email. “It made me want to create a project where things don’t just get consumed and discarded, but are instead given the chance to circulate in a new way.”
It was also this idea that gave the sale its name, Moving Out Service. “People are constantly coming and going, and in that process, buying things and throwing them out becomes a cycle,” says Kim, who was the creative director of the event. “There are so many international students and short-term residents that ‘moving out’ started to feel like part of daily life. The name came from the pace and rhythm of life in London.” As well as that, the sale also naturally tied in with Kim’s end of year Fashion Communication: Image and Promotion project, so people could score bargains while he scored some extra credit.
The inaugural Moving Out Service not only brought together students selling their original designs – such as Hojung Lee, choke.uk and MEIWAI – but also featured a number of archive labels reselling fashion holy grails. “I wanted to bring archive and vintage brands – ones you usually only see online – into a physical space, where people could experience them in person,” says Kim. “There’s something exciting about choosing items that carry someone else’s time and taste. It feels less like consumption and more like a way to express identity.”
Overall, Kim’s objective was to “create a space where people with similar interests could naturally connect”, something he hopes to have pulled off with his curated vibe. Rather than just stalls in an empty hall, the space was carefully put together by art director Hana Jo, with free drinks, food and even a DJ for entertainment. Seemingly taking cues from innovative retail projects like Nasir Mazhar’s Fantastic Toiles and Stefan Cooke and Jake Burt’s JAKE’s, Kim hopes to not only have a second edition of Moving Out Service, but to establish the event as its own dedicated destination. “I’d love for people to see Moving Out as more than just a flea market – something that can grow into a more flexible, experimental brand,” he concludes. “I want to continue exploring visual storytelling, but also build it as a space where people with shared interests can connect more deeply. I hope you’ll stay tuned and look forward to how it evolves.”
Scroll through the gallery above to see Moving Out Service in full