The first date change to note in Kensington is this Sunday, February 11, where the larger venue will accommodate 70 exhibitors rather than the 60 maximum at Chelsea.
Coincidentally, Kensington Hall was where it all began for organiser Matthew Adams’ vintage fashion connection. In 1997 he staged his first vintage fashion fair here, as part of his decorative arts event at the town hall.
Reminiscing, Adams says: “There were just 20 to 25 vintage dealers in the small hall on the first floor and the rest was taken up by the decorative arts fair.
“The standard of vintage was very mixed back then but it seemed that selling top quality at the highest prices did the best. We moved the fair to Chelsea in the early 2000s, renamed it Frock Me and started to be more careful about curating the event.”
Adams says that by 2004 the event had a waiting list “several times the size” of the 50-dealer capacity fair.
“From then on it became a lot easier to be selective about who would be invited to exhibit and those dealers selling the best quality would invariably be able to sell at top prices to the affluent, and by now seriously switched-on, clientele.”
For details of the date changes check the website listed below.
