The rise of fashion vintage is already a reality. More and more people, especially young people, are opting for second-hand clothing stores and looking to move away from the trends set by the large chains. The historic center of Zaragoza joins this commitment with the opening of a new G Gardens Vintage store on Méndez Núñez Street, a space that will allow the brand to continue its activity in the Old Town after moving from the La Magdalena neighborhood, where the project was born. The establishment will also maintain its store in San Félix, which this September celebrates its second anniversary.
The head of G Gardens Vintage, Óscar Manzanares, explains that the change responds to the intention of concentrating a large part of the offer linked to vintage fashion and culture in the historic center. «The idea is that the entire vintage and cultural route in Zaragoza stays in the Historic Center,» he says.
The new store will maintain the same name, the same philosophy and the same essence as the original establishment. If the final preparations progress as planned, G Gardens Vintage will raise the shutters during the first week of September. The decoration is already prepared and the new collection is also ready to receive the first customers.
A NEW STORE WITH THE SAME PHILOSOPHY
The move does not mean a change in the way G Gardens Vintage works. The brand bases its proposal on an individual selection of vintage garments from different decades, styles and designers. «The philosophy of the brand is to select garments one by one and look for the best vintage throughout Europe,» explains Manzanares in an interview with ARAGÓN DIGITAL.
To achieve this, the team travels personally in search of new pieces. One of the main destinations is the north of France, although the supply of suppliers in Spain has also increased in recent years. Each garment is chosen individually according to aspects such as the decade to which it belongs, its quality, its designer and, especially, its exclusivity. «It is selected one by one. From decades, qualities, designers or non-designers, but prioritizing the quality and exclusivity of vintage clothing,» says the manager.
The trips to renew the collection do not respond to a fixed calendar either. The number of garments available is what marks when it is time to look for goods again. With the arrival of the autumn-winter season, the team has already made a first trip to advance part of the collection and plans to return when temperatures begin to drop in Zaragoza.
VINTAGE CONQUERS THE YOUNG
The opening of this second store comes at a time of growing interest in vintage clothing in Zaragoza. G Gardens Vintage claims to have detected this increase especially among younger customers, with an age range between 18 and 25 years old.
«It has been noticed, especially in young people,» explains Manzanares. The person in charge points to the search for different garments as one of the main reasons for this boom. «People are already looking for that exclusivity, they are looking for those collections, those qualities and, above all, to go different from the rest.»
In addition to this search for unique pieces, there is a greater concern for quality. Compared to the consumption model of the large chains, vintage allows the recovery of ready-made garments that, in many cases, have materials and finishes that are difficult to find today.
Quality is a lot of priority, but also a bit of the culture of buying something that is already made and whose quality is much higher than what there is today in any store or multinational chain,» he says.
TWO SHOPS IN THE HISTORIC CENTRE
With the move from La Magdalena to Méndez Núñez, G Gardens Vintage is not abandoning its commitment to Zaragoza. On the contrary, the brand maintains its establishment on Calle San Félix and is now facing a new stage with two spaces very close to each other in the city.
Manzanares’ intention is that the new location will also contribute to strengthening local commerce in the historic center. «The local commerce needs local people, who come to consume and enjoy an experience that is a more personalized treatment,» he claims.
This direct treatment is part of the store’s proposal. G Gardens Vintage not only seeks to sell garments from other eras, but also to bring customers closer to the history behind them and explain how fashion has evolved over the decades. «It’s also a bit what we are looking for, dealing with people and telling them the history of the decades of fashion until today,» concludes Manzanares.
With the opening of Méndez Núñez, scheduled for the first week of September, G Gardens Vintage changes La Magdalena for the historic center, but maintains intact a philosophy based on piece-by-piece selection, quality and the search for garments capable of differentiating those who wear them.
