Clair Watson is a camellia among the vintage community. She has worked in the modern fashion industry, dressed windows for thrift stores, organized charity events with vintage themes, auctioned off extraordinary vintage couture to the highest bidder, and now does private consulting for some of the most prestigious vintage stores in the world! How could I not beg her for an interview? Fortunately, she was gracious enough to oblige us with her tails of whimsy! ---MSR

Changing things up…
I had been brought to New York from London by Benetton when it started its USA operations. I was the Product Director. I adored its ground breaking advertising by Toscani and I got an amazing understanding of the American fashion market and its diverse tastes. But personally I disliked fashion for its dictatorial edicts "you must wear blue this season" (so everyone else will be green with jealousy). The designs that got me excited were from all over the place, and I had always been an avid hunter gatherer of vintage; it expressed my rebellious personality.

When I planned to have kids I decided to work part time and found a dream job as Merchandise Manager at the best Upper East Side thrift store, the Irvington Institute for Medical Research. A vast drop in salary and glazed eyes at dinner parties when I told people where I worked, but as a woman I felt lucky.

Window shopping…
Apart from working on their annual auction with Sotheby's to raise money for immunological disease, including AIDS, one of my tasks was to stock their fabulous Designer Boutique, it was stuffed with amazing designs, slithery Galanos and poof Lacroix couture, apart from the ubiquitous Chanel. It was great! Then I started doing the windows (I had this in my background too) and there is nothing more creative, turning chairs upside down, clothes inside out, re-sew t-shirts. There were no rules in thrift; everything was "why not." The items were donated, and as long as I didn't decrease value, there was no designer to forbid what was done with it. People started coming in to say how much they enjoyed them. I remember Geoffrey Beene watching me put a window together and then come in and buy one of his creations! The windows got a lot of press. 

Timing is key. Style became the mot de jour for fashionistas, and vintage and thrift became a key component for people with confidence. I met a lot of brilliant New Yorkers, so unexpected, and all for a good cause.

Opera hits a high note…
I was asked by the President of New York City Opera to reinvigorate its thrift shop which I did, again part time, as Creative Consultant.  I couldn't resist the challenge of aligning the perceived elitism of opera with the perceived vulgarity of thrift! In three very productive years, the store was redesigned and given a new logo, operations were made more efficient and more creative, and when all looked good we started the famed parties to give it a quality brand in keeping with the quality product on stage at the State Theater.

Putting the co-chairs together was great, I was nervous they would not agree, but Lorry Newhouse, Amy Fine Collins and Hamish Bowles all grinned as they said yes and the first fund raiser was born, Vixen, taken from Janacek's opera The Cunning Little Vixen that was performed that season. An amazing team put that together, the excitement mounted day by day as more and more socialites, =20 celebs and fashion companies signed on to donate and attend. And the night itself, Bill Cunningham had the best time, those gowns, those vixens!  Foes became friends for the night, and vintage became glamorous - all for a good cause.

I certainly brought a freshness to the auction world, I presented antiques in a contemporary way, making them relevant and understandable to modern sensibility. I was wise enough to know what I did not know and I worked with people who were very generous of their time and expertise.

Starting a new chapter…
Once the store was up and running my role was done and I took a break. It lasted for a year. Then I was invited to apply for the position of Director of the Couture Department at Doyle New York. I had gotten to know most of the major players in the city who made antique and vintage clothing their business. I had styled some of the first auctions for Linda Donahue and Caroline Rennolds Milbank. I had bought Pucci's there for $35, in fact it was three for $35! 

I saw many exquisite works of art and came to admire a wide range of couturiers and designers from Europe, to understand their different modes of construction and points of view. Chanel's suppleness, Dior's rigidity, Fath's lightness of touch, Schiaparelli's imagination, Vionnet's bias - and the Americans - see the Valentina show at the Museum of the City of New York - Charles James, Rudi Gernreich, Norell. The deconstruction of the Japanese, origami in cloth.  And the Brits of course, I do not have a favorite, I could make each work in the right context, I would enjoy the challenge!  Each was a product of their time in history, and produced designs that reflected the times.

Going it alone…
I became an independent curator when Doyle closed its Couture Department.  There was more money in Chinese works of art which promised to make better business sense. It is a relatively small rarified world that buys antique clothing but there has been a huge growth in people who buy vintage to wear! A big difference, a collector would not wear these rare, sometimes fragile, designs.  We would not let people touch some of the items when they were exhibited, and they wore cloth gloves when they did. My main focus currently is the internet, bringing quality vintage to the e-world, and I work with a number of private individuals and corporate clients, being enterprising!  Hence, Clair Watson Enterprises.

***We hope that you have enjoyed reading about Clair and her many jaunts in the vintage business. For more information on Clair Watson Enterprises please visit http://www.1stdibs.com/articles/style_compass/clair_watson/.