How far would you go for fashion?
asserted
you → go → fashion
A Bradshaw-style stash of Jimmy Choos in your oven, which you only use for storage?
asserted
you → use → storage
For Laura Gallo-Willis, that’s kid stuff.
asserted
that → ’ → Willis
Recently, the real estate entrepreneur hopped on an international flight to Paris for a Chanel blazer that cost more than the plane ticket.
asserted
that → hop → ticket
“I don’t feel myself,” Gallo-Willis told The Post, “if I don’t have anything Chanel on.”
asserted
I → feel → anything
Gallo-Willis is a proud fashion hoarder, devoting rooms in her London mansion to her Chanel stash — and spending an estimated $1.1 million on pieces that range from classic black jackets to kooky resin clutches shaped like old-school mix tapes.
asserted
that → devote → tapes
She’s part of a growing global club of style junkies who will do anything for a style score, from stalking former Juicy Couture employees online to moving upstate just to make room for 300 Ralph Lauren jackets.
asserted
who → ’ → jackets
Here’s what some of these fashion hoarders will do to get their frock fix, from chasing a designer sweatsuit across Chicago to filling a bathtub with curtain cleaner to restore a wrecked prom dress.
asserted
do → ’ → dress
Here’s what some of these fashion hoarders will do to get their frock fix, from chasing a designer sweatsuit across Chicago to filling a bathtub with curtain cleaner to restore a wrecked prom dress.
asserted
some → ’ → dress
When Betsey Johnson’s company went bankrupt in 2012, the 69-year-old designer moved from New York to California — and offloaded her piles of designer prom gear at a Hamptons estate sale.
asserted
designer → go → sale
That included most of the brand’s samples — outrageous pieces made exclusively for runway shows that never made it to regular stores.
asserted
that → include → stores
Steph Ermer, a 37-year-old Betsey Johnson obsessive in Florida, knew the mass taffeta purge meant one thing:
Those rare pieces were somewhere out there to buy.
asserted
pieces → know → thing
Even better, since Johnson once used real people on the catwalk, a few one-off pieces were large enough for Ermer, who’s a size 6 to 8.
asserted
who → use → Ermer
She sprang into action and immediately began searching for the rogue runway looks — even pulling sleepless all-nighters online just to find one-off outfits.
asserted
She → spring → outfits
Ermer’s transformation to “Betsey bestie” began in high school, when she wore a dress from the frothy New York-based designer to a homecoming dance.
But she only began collecting Johnson’s rockabilly riffs on promwear and club gear when she grew up and found most contemporary fashion boring.
asserted
fashion → begin → promwear
A 10-buck Depop listing for a stained Betsey Johnson cherry-print dress piqued her interest; she restored the Y2K-era dress with “100 Oxiclean baths,” kickstarting her hobby.
“Now it’s become a second, full-time job for me,” Ermer admits, with two rooms stuffed with her purchases — one at her own house, the other at her parents’.
asserted
Ermer → pique → parents
The high point of Ermer’s collecting so far?
asserted
Ermer → collect → ?
“I blacked out, so I don’t really remember what we talked about, but I got to take a picture with her and she couldn’t have been nicer.”
asserted
she → black → her
To get Betsey’s best, Ermer scours vintage sites — Depop is her go-to — for special runway looks, and recently spied an unbranded dress that she reckoned was a catwalk piece, priced at $250.
asserted
she → get → 250
(Rarities these days can hit close to $5,000.)
asserted
Rarities → hit → 5,000
Sure enough, the black floral corseted piece was the same Johnson original that pop princess Olivia Rodrigo had recently worn while out in Manhattan.
asserted
Rodrigo → corset → Manhattan
“The runway samples didn’t have tags, so no one knew what it was,” Ermer said.
asserted
Ermer → have → tags
“The Betsey team is trying to buy it back from me, but I don’t sell my rare pieces.”
asserted
I → try → pieces
The Juicy Couture junkie: Katerina Kladis
“I am an OG Juicy Girl,” said Katerina Kladis proudly.
asserted
Kladis → say → ?
The 39-year-old personal shopper first eyed her lifelong obsession in an episode of the 2003 reality show, “Newlyweds,” when Jessica Simpson was wearing it while lounging around the house.
asserted
Simpson → eye → house
Obsessed with the terrycloth hoodies and sweatpants, which came in the same vibrant colors as Starburst candy and often had the word “JUICY” bedazzled across the butt, the Chicago native saved all her money for new scores.
asserted
native → obsess → scores
“I wanted to shop every single collection,” says Kladis, who admits she treated Juicy’s crystal-studded boutique on Oak Street like her own teen clubhouse.
asserted
she → want → clubhouse
“I looked forward to picking out the pieces I wanted to buy.”
asserted
I → look → pieces
Almost three decades later, Katerina reckons she’s clocked up a collection of 2,000 pieces from the brand beloved by Paris, Britney and Lindsay at their messiest Perez Hilton peaks.
asserted
she → reckon → peaks
“It represents more than just tracksuits,” she said.
asserted
she → represent → tracksuits
“It captures a very specific moment in fashion and pop culture when luxury, celebrity culture and everyday style collided.”
asserted
luxury → capture → fashion
Today, Kladis has a Juicy Couture mannequin from the shuttered store, which she bought when it closed down in 2015.
asserted
it → have → 2015
Now she wants to find the pillows, furniture and paintings which decorated those interiors.
asserted
which → want → interiors
Kladis is equally juiced on Juicy’s more bizarre lifestyle items, many of which were only made for celebrities or magazine photo shoots.
asserted
many → make → celebrities
Trawling Facebook Marketplace, she’s snapped up pink branded cooking utensils, a Sephora-collaboration trunk — a splurge at $350 — and even a tea party set first created for Juicy’s “Alice in Wonderland”-themed ad campaign in 2010.
asserted
she → trawl → 2010
“That goes for over $1,000,” Kladis told The Post.
asserted
Kladis → go → Post
“Ask anyone what they’re looking for, and they’re looking for that.”
asserted
they → ask → that
And Kladis’s Juicy Couture obsession recently came full circle, as the label’s current owners asked to rent some of her OG pieces for a social media campaign.
asserted
owners → come → campaign
She scored $1,000 for the project — about 20% of what she’s spent on actual Juicy Couture items since her teen years.
asserted
she → score → years
“Juicy is in my DNA,” she says.
asserted
she → say → DNA
…and 33 more, not listed.
The Aporia
