Frock Me!™ vintage fair, established 28 years ago in 1997, was the very first vintage fair to be held in London and possibly the very first vintage fair in the whole of the UK. Certainly no other fair had used the term “vintage” in the context of ‘period’ or ‘antique’ clothing prior to the inaugural 1997 Kensington event. It is currently held at Chelsea Old Town Hall on the King’s Road, at Kensington Town Hall and now also at the Royal Horticultural Halls’ Lindley Hall in Victoria. It was created by Matthew Adams, who has been running antiques fairs and markets in London for over 44 years and who continues to run the ever popular 'Horti’ antiques fair. Matthew studied Theatre & Costume Design at Central School of Art & Design in the 1970s before hitch hiking around Iran, Afghanistan and India, trading clothes, bags and jewellery to make ends meet. On his return to the UK he worked in various West End theatres whilst selling antiques and vintage clothing at the weekends from his stalls at Swiss Cottage Market and Camden Lock. The first market that Matthew set up was The Stables Market in Camden in 1981. In 1997 he started London's very first vintage fashion fair coupled with a decorative arts event at Kensington Town Hall. This event became hugely popular and due to its success Matthew focused on the vintage fashion side of the event and transferred it to Chelsea Old Town Hall. The success and originality of Frock Me! has, over the years, spawned many, many imitations, however it is commonly acknowledged by everyone in the fashion world, that Frock Me! remains by far the foremost vintage event in the country.
The current exhibitors are carefully curated from the very finest specialists in the business and come from across the UK, with occasional guest appearances by top dealers from France and the USA. Frock Me! has over 60 exhibitors at each event in Chelsea and over 100 exhibitors in Kensington and around 80 exhibitors in Victoria. Many have formerly been costume designers for film and TV or have a background in fashion design. Each has their own specialism - for example fashion from the 1920s, 1970s labels such as Ossie Clark and Biba, French textiles and popular vintage designer labels.
Check out the gallery here, all images taken at past events.
