Vogue: Annie Doble Is Who Kate Moss Turns To For A Vintage Party Dress

Posted 22 April 2021
"The moment you step into Annie’s Ibiza, any lingering post-lockdown anxiety instantly melts away. The sumptuous, gold velvet-lined emporium is brimming with flamboyant handpicked vintage. Annie Doble’s world holds a profusion of colour, sequins and feathers, all accentuated by the dreamy wildflower window display, and myriad bouquets in vintage vases by Ellie Hartley Flowers that dot every available surface. Her new boutique in the heart of Soho – a spin-off of her infamous original on Ibiza itself – has just reopened its doors, after being forced to close around 10 days after launch due to Covid. 
Annie’s Ibiza, open all summer on the island, swiftly built up an illustrious clientele, thanks to Annie’s eye for one-of-a-kind pieces perfect for a hedonistic night on the White Isle. She recalls clients who sailed their yachts to Ibiza for the express purpose of visiting her store. “I’d get a call at midnight and pack the whole store to bring on their boat at 3am because a client was leaving the next morning,” she says. 
Annie only ever buys clothing with her clients in mind. “I offer a very personal shopping experience that doesn’t exist anywhere else.” she says, likening the experience to opening up the doors of her wardrobe and letting her friends shop from it. “When I visit a department store, it feels like being in a clothing supermarket. Whereas when you come to Annie’s, it feels like you’ve gone back in time – it’s a different way to discover vintage.” 

Another of her well-known clients is Kate Moss. “When Kate visited the Ibiza store, she spent six hours shopping and selected pieces that nobody was interested in,” she says. “I had a 1920s black velvet cape with gold embroidery – it had been in the store for four years. I’d waited that long for someone to notice it, and that someone was Kate.” 

There is, however, one piece she refuses to sell – even to Kate. A Liberace-esque embroidered white feathered cape from the ’50s. “Kate wanted to buy this piece. I told her, ‘Maybe you can borrow it.’ I just couldn’t part with it.” Annie describes another precious piece that’s not for sale: a ’50s dress that once belonged to the Queen, and was given to one of her ladies in waiting. It’s said that clothing worn by the Queen has never knowingly gone on sale – usually labels or other signifiers that could identify Her Majesty are removed beforehand.

 

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