(NYT) —
Not long after Rihanna wore a vintage pink Chanel puffer for her pregnancy
announcement, another example of the very same coat appeared — at an auction in
Paris, where it was sold for 2,500 euros ($2,830), beating its high estimate by
66 percent. Not that it came from Rihanna’s closet, though the actual owner has
her own level of fame.
اضافة اعلان
That
piece was one of several hundred put on the block by a single collector known
as Catherine B: a flame-haired, age-indeterminate, extravagantly accessorized
pioneer of the luxury resale game.
For
almost 30 years, Catherine Benier has been buying and selling the crème de la
crème of pre-owned Hermès and Chanel handbags, jewelry, scarves, and other
accessories out of her Left Bank boutique, a listed landmark that, at slightly
less than around 9.2sq.m., makes shopping a one-to-one experience by default.
But
though doll-sized, Les 3 Marches de Catherine B (named for the storefront’s
three steps) is a leading destination for a wealthy, and often famous,
clientele eager for limited editions and sought-after styles in porosus
crocodile, lizard, or the buttery-soft, supple box leather used in the 1960s
and ’70s.
When
Les 3 Marches opened in 1994 with just a handful of scarves and other
accessories, early clients included Catherine Deneuve, who lives nearby, and
Inès de la Fressange. Benier became known for paying up front for resale items,
unlike a traditional dépôt-vente, which operates by consignment. She also
mingled nightly with the in crowd at the legendary nightclub Castel around the
corner.
Word-of-mouth
did the rest. The store became a resource for tastemakers, editors, and
stylists in search of fashion week looks for their clients.
In a
telephone interview, the interior designer Nate Berkus recalled meeting Benier
in the early 1990s, when he was interning in Paris for the jewelry designer
Dominique Aurientis. He bought a Hermès Plume carry-on, and though he no longer
has the bag, the friendship has endured.
“Catherine’s
an original,” he said. “She’s such a complete connoisseur and character, it’s
like attending a chapel run by a crazily dressed high priestess of vintage.
It’s always this storied, layered experience, and you leave with a treasure
every time.”
One of
the reasons for her success, Benier said, is that she “isn’t just selling
things.” Instead, she approaches inventory with a collector’s eye, styling
herself not as a vintage dealer but an antiquaire de mode, or fashion
antiquarian.
Another
reason is consistency: she has never strayed from her two first loves, Hermès
and Chanel (in the Lagerfeld era).
“While
craftsmanship is essential, for me luxury has more to do with tradition than
elitism,” she said, citing Hermès for its family history and Chanel for the
woman who started it all.
“True
luxury is small and rare. It’s something you wait for. I prefer that to instant
gratification.”
Until
2021, Benier also sold vintage Chanel and Hermès clothing in another store,
just a few doors down from Les 3 Marches, but earlier this year, she decided to
liquidate the stock — 600 lots including the pink puffer — via the Paris
auction house Gros & Delettrez and focus on accessories, her original
obsession.
Self-taught,
voluble, and opinionated, Benier said she has been interested in fashion for as
long as she can remember, just not “new” fashion. Rather, she prefers things
with a backstory. Born and bred in the St.-Germain-des-Prés neighborhood, she
credits her father, a mosaicist, with instilling in her a respect for
exceptional craftsmanship and the belief that artisans put their souls into
what they make. Her esoteric outlook she attributes to her astrological sign,
Cancer.
“I have
a very sensual rapport with objects,” she said. “They speak to me. When I sell
a bag, it’s not just a bag, I tell the client where it’s from, why it’s
special. You build a connection that doesn’t exist in the virtual realm.”
While
she has bought some pieces at retail and at auction, today Benier mainly
sources her stock by fielding inquiries. “Nothing is better than when someone
calls and says, ‘I have something for you’.” she said. “I’m always hoping
they’ll surprise me. Sometimes it’s worth it, and sometimes it’s not.”
“In
life, there are things that belong to us, and then one day you have to part
ways. Karma shifts and you have to move on to let something better come along,”
Benier said before her own auction sale.
In
pre-COVID-19 times, during fashion week a security detail could often be found
blocking the tiny Rue Guisarde while a wealthy client skimmed multiple bags off
the shelves. Occasionally, a client would drop in to upgrade a bag by selling
an old one back, which Benier said is how she once wound up flipping the same
black Kelly bag three times over.
On a
recent morning, a reporter had to wait outside Les 3 Marches while a 20-something
customer inquired about a rare miniature Kelly evening clutch in the window.
Its price: 14,000 euros.
Les 3
Marches is unapologetically one of the highest-priced vintage shops in town.
“My prices reflect the purchase amount,” Benier said matter-of-factly. “If
something was worth money in the beginning, it’s worth money secondhand.”
Still,
there are a number of offerings available for much less than current retail
prices and less than those listed on resale platforms such as The Real Real,
Vestiaire Collective and Hardly Ever Worn It: a vintage Kelly for 4,800 euros
or a Birkin at 7,500 euros — while if you create a bag wish list at Hermès, the
entry retail prices for these styles range from 9,000 to 18,000 euros. And a
Chanel 2.55 is listed at 3,800 euros (retail, 8,000 euros).
That
is, if it’s for sale in the first place.
Above
Benier’s desk is an arrangement of objects “purely for the pleasure of the
eye,” including a wicker basket designed by Lagerfeld that once belonged to the
flamboyant Italian fashion editor Anna Piaggi, a Lilliputian Kelly in black
lizard skin originally commissioned by an unnamed Hollywood actress for her
daughter and sunglasses accented with a silhouette of Coco Chanel.
Also
scattered around the store: good luck charms following the principles of feng
shui. Tucked in an obscure corner is a giant crystal paperweight in the shape
of a diamond. Glittery snow globes represent water elements. All but concealed
is a 500 franc note (originally worth about $85) received from Linda Evangelista,
who stopped in and purchased a Chanel bandanna in the shop’s very early days.
Benier
said she took it as the best possible omen and never once considered spending
it.
Then
there’s her most prized possession, the original Birkin bag: “the first It-bag
of all time.”
Benier
bought the bag in 2000 for a sum she declined to reveal after it resurfaced at
auction (the original owner, and namesake, Jane Birkin had sold it at a charity
auction for AIDS research in 1994).
“The
goose with the golden eggs and magic beans are nothing compared to my joy when
I knew the bag was mine,” Benier said.
“For
me, the bag didn’t have a commercial value, because it was never my intent to
sell it,” she continued. “For me, it was extraordinary, like finding Adam’s
rib. It’s the most beautiful, coveted piece in the history of fashion.”
Since
then, she has deflected offers to buy the bag at any price (including from
Rihanna), keeping it secreted away except for occasional appearances in
exhibitions at MoMA and the department stores Liberty of London and Galeries
Lafayette in Paris. It is now on its way back to Paris from the “Bags: Inside
Out” exhibition at the Victoria and Albert museum in London.
Where
it may go next is still unconfirmed. She dreams of placing it at the Maison Gainsbourg,
a newly opened museum in the home of Serge Gainsbourg, on the Rue de Verneuil
in the Seventh Arrondissement.
“The
Birkin was born in 1984, when Jane still lived in that famous house. It’s like
part of the family,” she said.
Then
there is her collection of some 2,500 Hermès scarves, which Benier said she
believes is one of the largest in the world. She can speak about the designs,
and their illustrators, at length. The same goes for a trove of Chanel fashion
jewelry.
“I made
my passion my métier, but not everything exists for the purpose of making
money,” she said. “There’s a memory that needs to live on.”
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