Director/Photographer Poppy de Villeneuve is no stranger to vintage. Her mom, Jan Ward was a well known model in the early 70’s. She worked with some of the great photographers of her time, like Norman Parkinson and Bill Gibb and would often get clothes from the shoots. So it’s no surprise that her vintage collection is as priceless and enviable as those mousy looks that made her famous. “My mom always influenced me to search for clothes that are ultimately ME,” says Poppy with a sense of gratitude. And if that wasn’t enough supermodel behavior, Poppy’s dad Justin discovered Twiggy and lived with her for over 10 years! “Having those images around the house definitely influenced my style. I discovered my dad’s old furs and leather pants. All a bit big for me, but my boyfriend has inherited his suits!” Poppy exclaims.

And then there is Poppy’s involvement in a fun vintage magazine out of London, called Cheap Date, probably the first magazine of its kind. Launched in early 2000 by Kira Jolliffe, Cheap Date published vintage stories and features and collaborated with influential people like Liv Tyler, Bay Garnett and Craig McDean. Poppy describes how she and another Cheap Date editor, “Iris Palmer lived together on Portobello Road and would run out when it started raining. A lot of the vendors would pack up in a haste and leave stuff behind. We found some amazing pieces there and shot them for the magazine. Cheap Date was anti-fashion, anti-dotal even though most of us were in the fashion industry in some way or another.”

Poppy and I were both in Miami for Art Basel and had made plans to go vintage shopping at C. Madeleine’s, a vintage store in North Miami that came highly recommended by any connoisseur I consulted. I was prepared for a high flux of fabulousness but when we entered the store we almost had a stroke! C. Madeleine’s is huge! And it’s practically impossible to grasp the entire content of the immense, impressive stock of clothing and accessories they carry. It took all my strength and dedication to stop shrieking and hyperventilating.