The Seller Series: Marine Braunschvig

At Resee, every one of our vintage pieces comes with a story. Perhaps that 1920s beaded gown had been in the same family for generations; the Céline patchwork leather dress is the very one that appeared in the house’s last Phoebe-Philo designed collection. As for the original Le Smoking tuxedo suit? It was made by Monsieur Yves Saint Laurent for Catherine Deneuve herself.

This is, in large part, thanks to our unmatched community of consignors.

Though parting with such sartorial treasures may not be easy, the exceptional personal care we put into ensuring that they will go on to live a second (or, sometimes even, a third, fourth, or fifth) life offers a thrill — one rivaled only by that of the besotted shopper who adds them to her wardrobe.

But don’t just take it from us. Here, in the Seller Series, our consignors — from industry titans to world-class collectors — open up their archives, revealing the items they gave up (and those perhaps they never will), and, ultimately, why they’ve chosen to place their inestimable trust in ReSee.

Marine Braunschvig’s fashion education began long before the born-and-bred Parisian enrolled at the prestigious design school Studio Berçot. As a child and teenager, she spent weekends trawling through antique fairs and thrift stores for singular finds—a formative experience that helped her hone her eye when it came time to join the masthead of Jalouse and L’Officiel.

Today, the stylist, who’s worked alongside everyone from Peter Lindbergh to Craig McDean and Ezra Petronio, is known to outfit models and actresses alike in the very vintage finds she’s accumulated throughout the past decades. Below, Braunschvig discusses the pieces she’s consigned with RE-SEE, how she mixes the old with the new, and why weatherworn belts can’t be beat.

Why are you drawn to vintage?

“I’ve always been drawn to vintage. Even though I’m French, my parents used to take us to the U.S. in the summer and we’d go to a lot of antique fairs and thrift stores. My love for vintage started there and then, of course, spread everywhere. As a teenager, I used to go to Guerrisol to find pieces I had in mind that designers weren’t making at the time. I was very inspired by the 70s and American vintage. I was always searching for fringe suede jackets, even as a child.”

How do you wear vintage?

“I love something that has humanity and has lived and is intemporel. I use vintage a lot in my wardrobe, but I usually don’t wear a total vintage look. Instead, I’ll wear a modern shoe with a vintage dress or the opposite. I wonder if a piece from 20 years ago is considered vintage… If it is, I clearly mix in a lot of vintage.”

What are some of your favorite vintage finds?

“There’s a very expensive market in the Marais that I like to go to at the end of the day when they’re putting everything back in the trunks to see what they can sell for cheap. I found an amazing camel coat there with super broad shoulders. I got it ten years ago and it’s still so good. I wear it all the time. I also used to be obsessed with suede jackets and suede skirts from the 70s—I think they were really well fitted and I loved the shapes. Now, I’m super veggie and I don’t shoot fur, so it’s harder for me to buy suede, even if it’s vintage, but I still keep those pieces in my closet and love them.”

How do you incorporate vintage into your styling work?

“On shoots I use a lot of my personal items, small pieces like vintage tights and belts because I think vintage belts are better. When you’re working for a magazine, advertisers don’t allow you to use a lot of vintage, but you can still always do the “stylist’s own” kind of thing. I also shoot a lot of commercials. We just did a Cartier advertisement with my friend Lou Doillon, and we had a good budget to buy clothes, but, in the end, we mainly used my wardrobe because what was best was what I already had in my closet.”

When did you start consigning? Why?

“I started consigning when I was in fashion school to be able to buy more fashion. In the late 90s, I used to sell my designer pieces at Alternatives in Paris, which was maybe the first designer resale store. Now, I’ve switched to Resee.”

How do you decide when to part with a piece?

“I have to say I’m very sentimental with clothes. I have a lot of pieces that belonged to my mother—she was also into Balenciaga, like me—and, of course, I’m going to keep those, so I sell pieces that I know that I’m not going to miss. For example, the Nicolas Ghesquière pieces that I loved and sold were very sexy dresses—open on the tits—that now, at 45, I’m not going to wear anymore. I go through my closet once a year and ask myself, Will I wear it again? It’s hard for me because there are a lot of commercial pieces that I don’t wear and think I should sell but end up keeping because I use them for shoots.”

What are some of the pieces you’ve consigned?

“I consigned a lot of iconic pieces from Balenciaga’s early 2000s collections, like a Spring 2000 thin cotton white long-sleeve top with a little scarf attached. It was modern and romantic and very comfortable. It used to be in pictures in Self Service when Self Service was my life. It didn’t suit me anymore honestly—I don’t see when I would wear it again—but it was a beautiful piece. Sometimes I miss it. Now, I’m like, Ooh, I was very adventurous… Maybe I sold too much!”

What’s something you’d never give up?

“I have a vintage Balenciaga patchwork skirt from Nicolas’s Spring 2002 collection. It’s gorgeous. This, for sure, I will never part with.”

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