David Casavant Collects Vintage for the Future

Fashion's obsession with vintage designer clothing has never been more pervasive but even the most eagle-eyed buyers and shoppers are only just beginning to catch up to David Casavant. The renowned stylist has amassed one of the best collections of rare archival designer items, so much so that he’s become a go-to for fashion directors and celebrity stylists seeking iconic statement pieces. Now with his label David Casavant Archive, Casavant is making those pieces available to the public in a way that accentuates his discerning eye.

In a world where resale websites and burgeoning vintage boutiques have captured the interest of fashion-conscious consumers—by offering a sustainable response to both overconsumption and the desire to form a distinguished wardrobe—it's easy to miscategorize Casavant as merely a collector. The Tennessee native has always been a creative first and foremost, obsessed with fashion from a young age. He began buying designer pieces on eBay as a teenager in the mid-Noughties—as menswear was just becoming a driving force in fashion—gravitating towards the pieces and the styles people weren't considering seriously. "I thought they were amazing," he says of his early Raf Simons and Helmut Lang purchases. "Most other people didn't."

At the time, Casavant felt like the choice in menswear was between the skinny silhouette that Hedi Slimane was pushing at Dior Homme or a hunkier style from brands like Versace; his taste was grungier, and both Simons and Lang understood that æsthetic better than anyone else. He bought most of the clothing to wear himself but sometimes it was just about acquiring a piece he thought was special. "I just loved it, and I just wanted to own it. I figured I'd work in fashion so it makes sense," he explains. His ability to see the beauty in those individual pieces helped him build up an arsenal with which to work, and while trends have come and gone, he's established his career since on his vision in creating distinct ways to style each garment. "When I buy and present things, I think about it being modern or the future," he adds. "I want it to look like the future even though it's old clothes—and a lot of that is presentation in styling."

Now Casavant has launched David Casavant Archive, the label under which he's selling items from his collection in curated groupings season to season, exclusively available at Dover Street Market. At a time when the fashion market is oversaturated but also more homogenous, Casavant’s offerings are refreshing—and inspiring alongside the progressive brands the boutique is known for. "What I wanted to say wasn't happening in the resale vintage world," he says. "It's not very aspirational, a lot of it, and it's not presented as very aspirational."

The David Casavant Archive label isn't just about clothes, but also the stories behind them. "I feel like I've built up a big portfolio of how these clothes have been worn and used, and that's what's so interesting about it," he explains. Ranging from unbranded vintage pieces to the most coveted Raf Simons designs, Casavant makes sure to keep a range of products available to any type of consumer looking for something visually interesting. Each piece has its original label, plus a David Casavant Archive label (which Casavant points out is easy to remove, if the buyer wants to be a purist) that gives context about how the particular piece was worn before. A Raf Simons hoodie from 2003 with a Peter Saville graphic, for example, is marked, 'Travis Scott 2016,' and includes a photo of the rapper wearing the exact piece, as well as an image of the hoodie as it appeared on the runway and another photo of it styled with other pieces from the Archive. "I want to present it basically as if it's a new collection or a new brand or designer, so it's like a reappropriation brand almost," Casavant says. "I make the tags and I have the whole story here. It shows you if someone's worn it or the story of the piece."

It's hard to imagine parting with such special pieces, but clothes aren't the entirety of Casavant's legacy. "I don't want to grow old and just say, 'Oh, I kept it all,'" he says. Nonetheless, he hopes that the new owners of these pieces appreciate the value he once saw. "The way I look at it is like an art piece, a collectible piece," he says. Still, he always encourages that the clothes, no matter how precious, be enjoyed however the wearer likes. "They have been worn, they've been used," he says of his collection. "The magic has stayed alive, and then more magic has been brought into them."

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