Sometimes, no matter how smart, connected, and well-resourced you are, you simply need an expert—and not just any expert, but the rarefied insider who other specialists call when they need help. Luckily, Robb Report has a roster of such world-class pros on speed dial. We’re even rolling out a highly curated directory of heavy hitters across categories: the Masters of Luxury.
This month, it’s Maurizio Donadi. He has built a reputation as a vintage connoisseur as well as a creative director, after working for everyone from Ralph Lauren to Armani over his more than 35-year career. Currently, he’s helping Champion recapture some of its retro cachet. Donadi’s own archive counts around 15,000 pieces, which he will occasionally sell via his Transnomadica platform.
Have a conundrum you’d like to see solved? Email askrobb@robbreport.com.
The Expert
Name: Maurizio Donadi
Occupation: Creative director and vintage collector
HQ: Los Angeles
Specialty: Menswear whispering
The Big Question
I’m an avid vintage collector. I want to find some great 1960s and ’70s workwear pieces, but I think they’re often overpriced. Where else can I look or ask someone to look for me?
You can still find the occasional standout piece at Passadena’s Rose Bowl flea market in California each month or at the marchés aux puces in Paris, says Donadi, as long as you go shopping without preconceptions. But his approach to sourcing the best vintage requires a little more resourcefulness—and travel.
Donadi runs a global network of about two dozen pickers, all based in emerging nations, who look for key pieces on his behalf. In the 1980s and ’90s, he says, Western aid organizations encouraged brands to donate clothing to help those countries as their economies stabilized; many American firms emptied out their warehouses full of deadstock in response. “The stuff was from the 1960s and ’70s, and they couldn’t even process what we sent—trillions of containers,” he explains. Today, sought-after pieces might be on sale for pennies in local markets. His team will scour the stalls, asking where other clothing vendors operate in countries like Indonesia, Ghana, or the Philippines.
Alternatively, Donadi suggests a trip to Eastern Europe. “The Berlin Wall came down in 1989, so there was an incredible desire to dress as Western Europeans for all the Eastern-bloc countries,” he says. This time, the surplus stock—mostly from European brands—was sold rather than donated. Think C. P. Company and Stone Island. Now, thrift stores and clothing markets from Bulgaria to the Czech Republic are groaning with castoffs. “You can find exceptional stuff from premium sportswear brands now.”
Speed Round
What’s the telltale sign a garment was made to last?
“The quality of how the buttons were attached. If you see one of the buttons was replaced with another one, maybe on a Carhartt or Filson jacket, look at the thread used to compare it to the old one. Vintage quality was extraordinary.”
Quickest way to deduce whether or not a vintage piece is reproduction or counterfeit?
“A T-shirt with holes and tears in it, but it comes in every single size possible? That’s the fraud. Vintage is one of a kind.”
Can’t-fail vintage item?
“Fishtail parkas from the Vietnam War. They were a nylon, satin, and cotton mix—so beautiful, and the fabric lasts forever.”
What’s your cutoff date for collectibles?
“To me, vintage ends in 1979. Production changed then, when a lot of companies grew much bigger and were looking for shortcuts to produce more and at a cheaper price.”
Under-the-radar tailor or repair service for precious garments?
“The people who do the best jobs are all in Japan. I wouldn’t call it repair, but restoration—they know how to take a beautiful vintage piece apart and rebuild it using thread we cannot find anywhere in the Western world. [On Instagram] @nestofmanure, @naritabby, and @studioginjirou are really good.”
Holy-grail item you can’t believe you found?
“A true artist’s smock—a chore jacket. They use it all the time during the making of their art, so it’s the most personal item. That jacket becomes the colors of your entire life as an artist.”
Either | Or
“At the moment, at least, because it’s a great canvas for ideas.”
“Because the eye of the expert will understand it.”
“They are obsessed with a level of detail and nuance.”
“It’s more functional and offers true protection.”
“Among billions of people, we are all one of one.”
“The fade tells me the story of the man that was wearing it.”
“I wear it all the time—the best traveling clothes you can have.”