Eva van Gelder sucht und findet
„Pezzi di Perla”

Jedes neue Secondhand-/Vintage-Geschäft is very good News. Vor einer Woche hat die junge Niederländerin Eva van Gelder mit einem Pop-up ihren kleinen, feinen Designshop der Öffentlichkeit vorgestellt. Ich habe Eva vor drei Jahren online kennengelernt, da hat sie noch studiert und parallel dazu mit ihrem Bozner Freund Julius begonnen auf Instagram unter dem Namen Pezzi di Perla Secondhand-Mode zu verkaufen – unter anderem von Roberto Cavalli, Emilio Pucci, Cop Copine, Save the Queen und Ed Hardy. In den drei darauffolgenden Jahren ist viel passiert. Die beiden sind von Amsterdam nach Bozen übersiedelt, haben heute eine kleine Tochter und Eva hat Secondhand-/Vintage-Mode zu ihrem beruflichen Schwerpunkt gemacht. @pezzidiperla gibt es nach wie vor, nun der neuen Ausrichtung angepasst, auch eine Website gibt’s, dort kann man vor allem die wertvolleren Archive Pieces erwerben und mehr über Eva und ihr Fashion-Konzept erfahren. Die ausgebildete Designerin bringt nicht nur frischen Wind und viel Mode-Know-how mit, sondern möchte ihr Geschäft in der Selig-Heinrich-Straße in Bozen auch zu einem Ort der Begegnung machen. Wo man in Designer-Büchern blättern und mehr über Designgeschichte von ihr erfahren und lernen kann, wo auch die ein oder andere Veranstaltung stattfinden soll. Die Auswahl ist sachkundig kuratiert, alle Stücke sind liebevoll präsentiert, gereinigt, gebügelt und, wenn notwendig, wieder in Stand gesetzt.Left: Eva is wearing a Luisa Spagnoli blouse, Vanilia trousers, Roberto Cavalli bag and Miu Miu heels; Right: Gucci blouse, Prada jacket, Emilio Pucci trousers, Yves Saint Laurent bag.

Eva bringt bereits einiges an Erfahrung mit. Sie hat in Luxus-Shops in den Niederlanden gearbeitet und viel Zeit damit verbracht, Klient*innen zu beraten. In der Zwischenzeit spricht sie schon gut Deutsch, das Interview haben wir jedoch auf Englisch gemacht.

Eva, what is it about secondhand and vintage fashion that inspires you?

I am in love with details and for some reasons fashion and art have always captured me. I was already sewing with my grandma when I was 5 years old. The interesting thing about clothing is that it can be timeless if you don’t look at it through the lens of Fast Fashion. I love good quality; I love to be unique and don’t want to wear the same things everyone else is wearing. It all started when I got my own money for clothes at 15 and had to be creative with 50 Euros a month. I started thrift shopping in the Netherlands. And really liked it. To many people, clothing, fashion, can seem a bit plain and shallow, just there to keep you warm and protected. But it is so much more. You can express yourself, you can express politics, your gender, your values…Eva is wearing a Alaïa dress, Prada cardigan, Michael Kors bag and Miu Miu boots. 

You are a trained fashion designer and are just starting your own business. How do you address the fashion industry and it’s not very sustainable practices?

The fashion industry is very problematic. That’s why I sometimes have a kind of duality in me. I would love to buy new things, but then feel bad about it. Why would I spend so much money on something new when I already have a lot and when there are already so many made clothes available? At some point we have to create new things, even if we have so many secondhand clothes that can be worn for a long time. So, it’s important when creating new things to make designs that are well made. I think the problem with design now is that it’s so broken into pieces. A designer makes a sketch, the product developer makes the technical drawing to go to the factory and so on. If the designer thinks a little further and understands more about pattern making, puts more thought into it and focuses on good quality, that would really extend the life of an item. I focused in school on sustainability and circularity, students nowadays learn about these things and take it with them to companies.

What about upcycling, working with materials, yarns, clothes that are already here?

I think it is definitely a solution. The only thing with upcycling is that it’s very time consuming and not affordable for everyone. But it can we very beautiful and unique. I just discovered a Dutch brand that is making very nice textiles out of textile waste. But often the quality of recycled yarn, fabric is a problem. For example, if all the textiles are thrown together, it’s not going to be very useful for new clothes, but you might be able to make a blanket out of it. So, research is very important. And investing in technology. About your new shop. What are you going to create there?

I want to create an environment where people with different interests and budgets can find something. I have vintage pieces, small brands, big brands, archive pieces, a little bit of everything. All these pieces need a new home. 

You are very much into fashion history, tell us more about it.

Especially with my archive pieces from bigger brands I do a lot of research to find out about their provenance. For that I read a good deal and go through the runways. With time and training I already can date many pieces. It’s a lot of work because many styles and collections are not online. Also problematic in fashion is that there are 4 to 6 collections a year, beautiful designs with super nice ideas, but in a few months, they are discarded and a completely new and different collection is made. This is sad, because there is so much thought and effort behind it. Pieces of former periods can still be so contemporary and be worn today. We need to appreciate fashion design as we do other forms of design.

Do you have favourite periods?

I really like the 1930s and up, the pieces can still be worn today. In the shop I have some pieces from the 1960s onwards. I like the 60s and 70s and also the 90s and 2000s.Left: Eva is wearing a Chanel top, Jean Paul Gaultier jacket, Miu Miu jeans, MM6 heels; Right: Prada top, Jean Paul Gaultier skirt, Gucci bag, Prada heels.

What about your style?

I think it’s getting more vintage again. Now I have a lot of 80’s and 70’s pieces. My favourite designers and brands that I wear at the moment are Emilio Pucci, Prada, Alaïa, Aspesi and many more. I am slowly growing my personal collection. For me, a garment always has to be well made, I freak out if the seam is not done right. My style can be very bold prints, but I especially like items with nice details. 

What else?

I am not a „Schneiderei”, but I sometimes restore items. I also want to learn more about leather so I can repaint bags so they can last another 20 years. I have also become very good at getting stains out, just pampering the clothes so they have many more years to come. This is very important.Habt ihr Lust bekommen bei Eva vorbeizuschauen? Ihr Geschäft findet ihr in der Selig-Heinrich-Straße 1b. Die Öffnungszeiten sind Montag bis Freitag von 8 bis 12 Uhr, am Montagnachmittag auch von 15 bis 19 Uhr, sonst auf Vereinbarung, schickt ein Mail an pezzidiperla@gmail.com. Sich Zeit zu nehmen für Kund*innen, zu reden, Fragen zu beantworten, das sei ihr sehr wichtig, fügt Eva am Ende unseres Gesprächs noch hinzu. Und solltet ihr Style Adivce brauchen, zum Beispiel für ein Event, Eva freut sich euch zu beraten.

Und: Den ersten Artikel über Pezzi di Perla findet ihr hier – ich habe da zwei Secondhand-Online-Plattformen vorgestellt, eine gibt’s aktuell nicht mehr, die andere – Pezzi di Perla – hat sich erfreulicherweise weiterentwickelt.Fotos: (1–6) © Eva van Gelder; (7) © Susanne Barta; (8–13) © Eva van Gelder

>> Supported by CORA happywear (M), Kauri Store (M), Oscalito (L) und meiner Freundin Kristin << 

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