05.01.16
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London-based online vintage store Nothing Special bring iconic designs back to life – the gaudier, the better

“I source both men’s and women’s wear from the late 80s up to around the early 2000s, with some contemporary brands that fit in with my favourite aesthetics,” vintage obsessive and Nothing Special founder Adam Skeleton tells us via email, most likely surrounded by the high-quality, hand-picked items that define his homegrown brand. “For example interesting prints, techniques, textures, cuts. I stock from 90’s Moschino to 00’s Raf Simons – an unlikely mix some might say, but I have a lot of followers that appreciate the brands being stocked together. I think it’s the poetry in the clothes.”

After making a small-scale start on eBay, Adam quickly saw Nothing Special’s potential and moved the operation into an online store and started selling one-off pieces directly. “I thought the clothes were getting lost on eBay as a collection and that it would be a good idea for people to have somewhere they could keep coming back to without having to keep looking through the crap on eBay,” he explains. “I think you get one good item for every hundred on eBay.”

In keeping with his DIY roots, Adam’s recent collaboration with regular Crack stylist Charlotte James has born a street-cast lookbook sourced from his massive collection of wares, styled by Charlotte and shot by Tom Andrew. After taking in the glorious gaudiness of the brands Adam favours (think Versace and Moschino), the trio saw an opportunity to show their range with the shoot. “The shoot was about showing the diversity of our clients and to get real people in the clothes. Similar shoots would see these clothes on models but we wanted to inspire people to wear it every day and not necessarily in a loud and “out there” way. Again, it’s about keeping it accessible.”

But why are these brands so central to Nothing Special’s ethos? “I love the prints, for me its wearable art,” Adam enthuses. “I’m more into Moschino. I don’t own any Versace myself but do sell it on the shop. I’m mostly drawn to Moschino’s humour and political ideas – Franco was very anti-fashion which is incredible considering his success and the fact the brand is still relevant today.”

We quizzed Adam on how he gets his hands on the clothes in the first place but all he could tell us is that it’s “hard work”. We’re not surprised he’s keeping tight-lipped – Nothing Special is a business that’s going from strength to strength, all based off the back of a serious passion for vintage clothing. While Adam says that he’d love to open a permanent shop one day he’s content with doing pop-ups for now and it just so happens they’ve got one coming up very soon.

“This time it will be more of a party so it’s not just a rail of clothes, it will be a place to come and meet people and have a good time.” That’s all we know for now, but rest assured that if you keep an eye on their Instagram in the meantime you’ll have all the information you need.

Check out nothing-special.net to see what they’ve got in stock