Few vintage sellers in the world can claim their inventory has ended up on an Academy Awards red carpet, but LILY et Cie has built its entire identity around exactly that kind of provenance. Founded and still run by Rita Watnick, the shop operates by appointment only from a suite in the Pacific Design Center’s Red Building, on San Vicente Boulevard right at the edge of Beverly Hills and West Hollywood, where it deals almost exclusively in museum caliber vintage couture and ready to wear rather than everyday secondhand clothing. The New York Times once described the collection as a veritable museum of more than half a million pieces of vintage fashion, and that scale is what separates LILY et Cie from a typical vintage boutique: this is closer to a private archive that happens to sell than a retail shop that happens to carry old clothes. The appointment only format is central to how the business works. Rather than browsing open racks, clients schedule time with Watnick or her team to view pieces pulled specifically for their body, their event, or their era of interest, a model built for stylists dressing celebrities for red carpets, collectors chasing a specific designer or decade, and costume professionals sourcing historically accurate garments for film and television. That client list has included major names in entertainment, and pieces from the collection have gone on to be worn at some of the industry’s highest profile events, giving the shop a reputation that extends well past Los Angeles into the wider world of fashion history and archival dressing. One well documented example: a 1991 fall and winter haute couture piece by Yves Saint Laurent from the LILY et Cie archive was purchased directly by the pop star Ariana Grande, a sale that circulated widely among vintage fashion followers as proof of the caliber of garment the shop typically carries. Because the inventory skips fast fashion and mainstream secondhand clothing entirely in favor of couture and rare, historically significant ready to wear, prices run well above what shoppers would expect from a standard vintage or consignment store, a point some reviewers note directly, while longtime clients describe decades long relationships built on Watnick’s deep knowledge of designer archives and her hands on approach to curating each visit. The shop is open Tuesday through Friday from late morning into the afternoon and on Saturday for a shorter window, closed Sunday and Monday, with all visits scheduled in advance rather than accepting walk in traffic off San Vicente Boulevard. For collectors, stylists, and anyone chasing a specific piece of fashion history rather than a bargain, LILY et Cie stands apart from ordinary vintage resale as an appointment only archive of museum quality couture, curated by one of the industry’s most trusted names in vintage sourcing, where the inventory itself has quite literally walked the red carpet.
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Few vintage sellers in the world can claim their inventory has ended up on an Academy Awards red carpet, but LILY et Cie has built its entire identity around exactly that kind of provenance. Founded and still run by Rita Watnick, the shop operates by appointment only from a suite in the Pacific Design Center’s Red Building, on San Vicente Boulevard right at the edge of Beverly Hills and West Hollywood, where it deals almost exclusively in museum caliber vintage couture and ready to wear rather than everyday secondhand clothing. The New York Times once described the collection as a veritable museum of more than half a million pieces of vintage fashion, and that scale is what separates LILY et Cie from a typical vintage boutique: this is closer to a private archive that happens to sell than a retail shop that happens to carry old clothes. The appointment only format is central to how the business works. Rather than browsing open racks, clients schedule time with Watnick or her team to view pieces pulled specifically for their body, their event, or their era of interest, a model built for stylists dressing celebrities for red carpets, collectors chasing a specific designer or decade, and costume professionals sourcing historically accurate garments for film and television. That client list has included major names in entertainment, and pieces from the collection have gone on to be worn at some of the industry’s highest profile events, giving the shop a reputation that extends well past Los Angeles into the wider world of fashion history and archival dressing. One well documented example: a 1991 fall and winter haute couture piece by Yves Saint Laurent from the LILY et Cie archive was purchased directly by the pop star Ariana Grande, a sale that circulated widely among vintage fashion followers as proof of the caliber of garment the shop typically carries. Because the inventory skips fast fashion and mainstream secondhand clothing entirely in favor of couture and rare, historically significant ready to wear, prices run well above what shoppers would expect from a standard vintage or consignment store, a point some reviewers note directly, while longtime clients describe decades long relationships built on Watnick’s deep knowledge of designer archives and her hands on approach to curating each visit. The shop is open Tuesday through Friday from late morning into the afternoon and on Saturday for a shorter window, closed Sunday and Monday, with all visits scheduled in advance rather than accepting walk in traffic off San Vicente Boulevard. For collectors, stylists, and anyone chasing a specific piece of fashion history rather than a bargain, LILY et Cie stands apart from ordinary vintage resale as an appointment only archive of museum quality couture, curated by one of the industry’s most trusted names in vintage sourcing, where the inventory itself has quite literally walked the red carpet.
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