method — aspr || curated fashion · research-driven resale

[ m e n u ]

research-driven archival fashion

Method
Notes on how pieces are sourced, authenticated, researched, and graded.

Why this page exists
Everything in the store and the catalogue passes through the same process before it reaches you. This page sets out what that process is. It is written so that a buyer, a consignor, or a fellow researcher can see the reasoning behind an acquisition rather than take it on faith.

What gets stock, and what doesn't
We acquire pieces for their significance to fashion, not for the recognizability of the label. A piece qualifies when it was designed by the founder of a house or during their era, when it advanced construction, silhouette, material, or idea, and when its period can be authenticated closely enough to place it.

Trends do not decide what enters the collection. They affect how a piece is presented and priced, and nothing before that. A garment that carries a known name but pushes nothing forward does not enter on the name alone.

We do not stock diffusion or licensed output produced without design authorship, or the later output of a house after the founding hand has left, unless that output holds on its own terms. The test is the same in every case. With the label removed, does the piece still stand.

The label-off test
We read a garment before we read its tag. Cut, seam finish, grain, weight, fastenings, lining, and the order in which a piece is put together carry more information than a label, and they are far harder to fake. If a piece only convinces with the tag visible, it does not pass. Authentication is construction first. The label confirms. It does not decide.

Authenticating the era
Dating is part of authentication. Care labels, fabric content and country-of-origin tags, union labels, hardware, and construction methods all shift over time and place a piece within a window. I work from house references, runway and lookbook documentation, period publications, and archive material to fix a garment to its collection or season where that is possible. Where a piece cannot be dated with confidence, it is described that way.

Research
Each significant piece is researched against primary and period sources: designer and house references, runway and presentation records, exhibition and publication history, and textile or technique history where relevant. The research catalogue on this site holds the longer entries. A listing carries the short form. The catalogue carries the full one.

Condition
Condition is graded against the age of the garment, not against new. Age-appropriate wear on an archival piece is expected. It is noted plainly rather than hidden or corrected for.

Deadstock: unworn, with original tags or finishing present.
Excellent: lightly worn, no notable flaws, no repairs.
Very good: light wear consistent with age, any minor flaws noted individually.
Good: visible wear or a small number of flaws, all listed, fully wearable.
Study piece: significant wear, damage, or alteration. Listed for research or archival value and priced accordingly.

Every flaw that affects a grade is described in the listing, with measurements and images. Measurements are given flat, in centimetres, and doubled where a flat measurement should be read around the body.

Provenance
Where a piece has documented provenance, it is stated. Where it does not, that is stated too. We do not assign a garment a history it cannot support.