All photos by Josh Bowman @sleeze_mcqueen
They don’t teach shopping in school, but I’ve acquired a lot of skills in the extra curricular activity over the past 24 years. I should have a PhD in spending money—a degree specialising in, but not limited to, thrifting vintage, open-air markets and secondhand online platforms. My expertise includes sourcing shoes, lingerie, tops, jackets, dresses, pants, skirts, hats, accessories and more shoes. While some people collect records, wine or Berghain stickers, I collect clothes. To be specific, I shipped 100kg of clothes when I moved from Sydney to Berlin almost three years ago.
The one place you probably won’t find me shopping in is in high street retail chains—a big nein Danke to being a clone of fast fashion trends—but if someone is slaying in a similar style to me, it is more of a “Hello, hi, who are you? What’s your Instagram handle?” than “Who wore it better?”. I only step into a department store when I’m in dire need of new socks or underwear. Obviously, this means I shop a lot of vintage. One of the best ways to suss out a great store is getting to know the woman behind the counter.
Meet Hanako, who runs one of my most adored vintage destinations, the two-room Ironic Gallery in Neukölln. Born in Japan, Hanako spent a good amount of time in London, before calling Berlin home for the past 5 years. She makes a habit of looking effortlessly cool (a good indicator of quality supply), today, wearing vintage Comme des Garçons and a pair or red Margiela Tabis, (I make shoe contact before eye contact, always). Her favourite creators include Rei Kawakubo, Junya Watanabe, Miuccia Prada and John Galliano. As for her curation philosophy? “I get inspiration from anything that makes me feel excited to look at,” she says.
Nestled on Flughafenstrasse between Hermannstrasse and Karl Marx, you will find Hanako, her treasure chests of accessories and her carefully curated clothing rails. She describes her store as a “mishmash of everything”, and since opening its doors in 2016, I can attest that the store has indeed had everything from the ugly to the beautiful, rare designer pieces to sportswear, and her friends’ artwork. Prices range from around 20 euro for sportswear items, to a gorgeous 500 euro wedding dress. Without spilling all of the tea, Hanako revealed the carefully curated pieces are sourced internationally, but mostly from France. Her current favourites: a grey Junya Watanabe parachute top circa 2002 and a pink Victorian-style vest from Vivienne Westwood.
I am drawn first to bold colours and patterns, statement pieces and designer tags. I actually have an obsession for matching sets, and this is exactly what I found literally after a minute into scanning the room: a matching Burberry number! A button up top and culottes *heavy breathing*. I always allow for long browsing time in stores, as something new will always eventually catch my eye, but most times I really don’t need it. If I ever I find a piece that could potentially harm my bank account, I always tell myself buying clothing is an investment… although to be fair, Ironic Gallery has really justified price points.
If your closet is screaming for some sprucing, new designer garments, statement pieces or your monochrome Berlin wardrobe is screaming for some colour, they are probably telling you to go to Flughafenstraße 24. A curated vintage wonderland, Ironic Gallery is an experience I highly recommend. And as my good friend Joel Palmer says, “This devil wears vintage Prada, she’s sustainable.”
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