Ellner is a Californian who got hooked on vintage as a pre-teen, launched an eBay store, and moved to New York after school to work in the industry. After a decade working in digital marketing for companies and later, independently as a consultant, Ellner hit a wall. “One day I realized I didn’t like clothes,” and clothes, she said, had always “been my outlet, my source of creativity and my way of communicating with the world.” Having determined that the barrier between herself and garments was a hard and impenetrable computer screen, Ellner unplugged and moved upstate. She signed the lease on her store in Hudson, just as Covid hit. The dealer later moved Reracked to Kingston, and that’s where the Cavallis found her. Ellner didn’t search out these pieces, but, rather, a woman walked into her Hudson Valley store inquiring if Reracked was buying pieces. Ellner’s first response was no, but she inquired what was on offer, and upon discovering these rare Cavallis fell head over heels down a research rabbit hole.
The consignee had acquired the pieces from her mother, who had worked for an Italian knitwear firm called Crissa, and she had worn them for fun evenings out, telling Ellner, “I always knew that I felt really cool in them and that there wasn’t going to be anyone else in the room, dressed like I was dressed in 1970.” The labels read Roberto Cavalli for Crissa.
Reracked will display these early Cavalli pieces from September 11-16; they will be available to buy from the 17th. Unlike the recent big sales of Martin Margiela’s archive and a collector’s extensive Comme des Garçons collection, the Cavalli capsule reveals a little-known aspect of the designer’s work, one that is in a gentler, and more bohemian spirit than his more libertine later work. Ellner loves the stories that vintage holds and is thrilled to share this mostly unread chapter of Cavalli’s work. The icing on the cake is that the Florentine is one of the most searched-for designers of the moment. She puts this down to Y2K nostalgia and a tendency towards differentiation and individualism in dress. “When I was in high school, I wanted the same sneakers as my best friend,” the dealer says, “but nowadays people want to express themselves.”
An Erté meets Aubrey Beardsley motif.
Photo: Lyss Lester / Courtesy of Reracked
