Tiina Laakkonen Is Selling Her Archive of Rare Comme des Garçons, Margiela, and More—for a Good Cause

It also helps that Laakkonen’s minimalist wardrobe feels surprisingly fresh and wearable in today’s style landscape. “I’m impressed by how modern these clothes look today,” she says. 

These are clothes imbued with personal meaning, experiences, and, occasionally, one-of-ones that only someone with a personal relationship with brands and designers can procure. Take for example the bevy of early-to-mid ’80s Comme Des Garçons on offer. Laakkonen purchased many of the pieces while modeling for the brand. Then, as a design assistant at Chanel, where she worked under the late visionary Karl Lagerfeld, Laakkonen purchased more top-notch luxury pieces (Saint Laurent, Chanel samples, etc.). “Karl used to joke about the fact that we both wore Comme, he said you and I, we wear the good stuff.” As Living Editor at Vogue, Laakkonen developed close relationships with various brands and designers and, as she puts its, “obviously with that life comes more good clothing.” A prime example was how Laakkonen connected with an, at the time, up and coming Alexander McQueen and received multiple items from him. Those pieces—featured in the iconic “Savage Beauty” exhibition at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and London’s Victoria and Albert Museum—are not up for sale, and won’t be anytime soon, Laakkonen says. “Those are the only things I’m keeping,” Laakkonen says. 

Laakkonen’s biography and knack for classic design should provide potential shoppers of the sale some peace of mind: these second-hand clothes are pretty good bets to invest in.