by Hamish Bowles

Iain R. Webb’s recent monograph on Bill Gibb, the Scottish designer whose fantasy creations defined London fashion in the 1970s, seems likely to inspire a new generation of vintage aficionados.

Gibb is just one of the designers whose work, once overlooked by collectors, is attracting the interest of auction houses from London to Chicago. Kerry Taylor, who holds fashion and costume sales in London and important sales in collaboration with Sotheby’s, feels the work of the 1970s London designers is exciting—and undervalued.

John Bates, Jean Muir, Antony Price, and Zandra Rhodes are, according to Taylor, other labels to watch. “Occasionally you get museum-quality things,” she explains, “but generally speaking they’re very affordable.”

Taylor also sees renewed interest in the Amazonian fashions of Claude Montana, Thierry Mugler, and Azzedine Alaïa, the kings of dramatic 1980s body-conscious dressing. Abigail Rutherford, director of vintage couture and accessories at Chicago’s Leslie Hindman auction house, concurs, noting that “so much of it is cyclical, and a large-scale event like ‘Superheroes’ at the Met can drive collecting.”

On October 30, Christie’s South Kensington will auction an extensive collection of late-twentieth-century fashion assembled by visionary dealers Mark Haddawy and Katy Rodriguez, who founded Resurrection, the inspirational Manhattan vintage resource, in 1996. “The sale is going to encourage people to think of these pieces as cultural artifacts rather than secondhand clothes,” says Patricia Frost, the auction house’s Costume and Textiles Specialist, of the collection, which embraces the iconic sixties work of Pierre Cardin, Rudi Gernreich, and Paco Rabanne, as well as Vivienne Westwood, Mugler, and Versace from the 1980s and 1990s.

“We’re really drawn to the avant-garde side of fashion,” explains Haddawy of the collection. He says he is excited by “true street culture that really pushed the boundaries. I love those moments where art, architecture, and fashion collide. Fashion and architecture with Paco Rabanne’s revolutionary armor; art and fashion being a Vivienne Westwood collaboration with Keith Haring. For me it’s not a question of how old something is, but how relevant.” A case in point: Resurrection recently acquired a single-owner collection that includes some 700 pieces by Martin Margiela, dating from his early collections, as well as eighties and nineties clothing by Ann Demeulemeester, Rick Owens, Yohji Yamamoto, and Comme des Garçons, all designers whose experimental provocations pushed fashion forward. “The clothes are really witty and very conceptual—they have built-in collectibility,” says Haddawy. Patricia Frost agrees that the work of “the cutting-edge people”—Alexander McQueen and Hussein Chalayan—represents exciting new collecting areas.

For Clair Watson, an independent curator specializing in antique and vintage costume, the “zeitgeist is about postwar America, which seems fresh right now.” Watson admires the impeccable elegance of Norman Norell and James Galanos pieces from the 1950s through 1970s, as well as “Scaasi for his opulent evening and bold color, Oscar de la Renta for his more subtle beauty, and Bill Blass for his suits and his very chic American sensibility. And Halston and the Studio 54 set—sexy and perfect.”

Click here to see all the designers to collect now and to learn which decade of their careers is most desired.

Read below for our list of upcoming auctions for new and experienced collectors alike:

Kerry Taylor Auctions
40 Martell Road, London
kerrytaylorauctions.com

September 17, 2008
Sandy Stagg, “A Life in Vintage”
Finds from one of the first vintage specialists, whose shop in Portobello Road was a long-standing favorite for fashion cognoscenti.

November 18, 2008
Antique and Vintage Fashion and Textiles

December 4, 2008
Passion for Fashion and Fine Textiles
Look out for vintage couture from Chanel, Balenciaga, Schiaparelli, and more.

Leslie Hindman Auctioneers
1338 West Lake Street, Chicago
lesliehindman.com

September 21, 2008
Vintage Couture and Accessories

December 3, 2008
Vintage Couture and Accessories
This sale of vintage accessories and couture will include the property of a distinguished Park Avenue private collection. Think Chanel couture, Hermès riding suits, and Halston disco.

Christie’s South Kensington
85 Old Brompton Road, London
christies.com/christieslive

September 16, 2008
Erin O’Connor Sale—South Kensington
A selection from the supermodel’s personal wardrobe with proceeds going to the British Fashion Council to support designers and models in early stages of their careers.

October 30, 2008
Resurrection: Avant-Garde Fashion—South Kensington
Fashion spanning from 1960 to 1990 and including pieces from Paco Rabanne to Gianni Versace.

Christie’s
20 Rockefeller Plaza, New York City
(212) 492-5485

December 18-19, 2008
Interiors Sale—New York
This sale will include fashion accessories as well as fine and costume jewelry.