Pre-Loved Podcast with Emily Stochl - S8 Ep4 FRENCH WORKWEAR COMPANY: owner, Marie Remy - on growing up in rural France, moving to Paris, and selling French ‘bleu’ workwear jackets (plus other European workwear classics!)

S8 Ep4 FRENCH WORKWEAR COMPANY: owner, Marie Remy - on growing up in rural France, moving to Paris, and selling French ‘bleu’ workwear jackets (plus other European workwear classics!)

02/19/24 • 64 min

Pre-Loved Podcast is a weekly vintage fashion interview show, with guests you’ll want to go thrifting with! For more Pre-Loved Podcast, subscribe to our Patreon!

On today’s show, we’re chatting with Marie Remy, who is the founder & owner of The French Workwear Company.

Marie grew up in the 1970s and 80s in rural Eastern France, where her dad had a mechanic’s garage. She always dreamed of moving to Paris, which she did as a student and soaked up all the indie music gigs, record stores, vintage fashion and flea markets every weekend.

On this episode, Marie shares the stories that lead to her launching a French workwear vintage business, after several years in the music industry and settling in London. Like many of us, she first started selling her “surplus,” as she and her musician husband were both vintage lovers, but would continue to go back to France to source workwear, particularly the ‘bleus’ which were a quintessential part of her upbringing.

Tune in for Marie’s fab stories, plus a fascinating amount of social and fashion history – this episode is a really fun deep dive, so let’s get right into it!

DISCUSSED IN THE EPISODE:

[4:01] Growing up as a teenager in rural France in the 1980s, loving indie music and vintage fashion.
[5:37] On Marie’s first trip to Paris she saw Azzedine Alaïa while out and about.
[7:12] Thrifting in Paris in the late 1980s at the Guerrisol.
[11:33] On shopping at the iconic Parisian flea markets.
[16:23] She first started selling her “surplus,” as she and her musician husband were both vintage lovers.
[19:36] The history and aesthetics that drew Marie to vintage workwear.
[39:53] French workwear is meant to last a long time, and some pieces have beautiful mending.
[51:59] The pieces in her vintage collection that Marie finds especially unique.

EPISODE MENTIONS:

LET’S CONNECT:

📸Instagram: @emilymstochl
🐦Twitter: @emilymstochl
🎥TikTok: @emilymstochl
📧 Substack: https://prelovedpod.substack.com/
🎧Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/prelovedpod

SPECIAL THANKS:

A special thanks goes out to my Patron Insiders – your support makes Pre-Loved Podcast possible!

Patty Weber
Beverley Docherty of Wolfe Pack Vintage
Danny of Galaxy Live
Kathy Brand
Lucero Buendia
Tricia Zelazny
Leslie V.
Lisa of Queenie & Pearl
Lucille of Galipette Vintage
KT
Lydia Welp
Anastacia Banicke of Goods & Provisions
Michael A.

Pre-Loved Podcast is a weekly vintage fashion interview show, with guests you’ll want to go thrifting with! For more Pre-Loved Podcast, subscribe to our Patreon!

On today’s show, we’re chatting with Marie Remy, who is the founder & owner of The French Workwear Company.

Tune in for Marie’s fab stories, plus a fascinating amount of social and fashion history – this episode is a really fun deep dive, so let’s get right into it!

DISCUSSED IN THE EPISODE:

[4:01] Growing up as a teenager in rural France in the 1980s, loving indie music and vintage fashion.
[5:37] On Marie’s first trip to Paris she saw Azzedine Alaïa while out and about.
[7:12] Thrifting in Paris in the late 1980s at the Guerrisol.
[11:33] On shopping at the iconic Parisian flea markets.
[16:23] She first started selling her “surplus,” as she and her musician husband were both vintage lovers.
[19:36] The history and aesthetics that drew Marie to vintage workwear.
[39:53] French workwear is meant to last a long time, and some pieces have beautiful mending.
[51:59] The pieces in her vintage collection that Marie finds especially unique.

EPISODE MENTIONS:

LET’S CONNECT:

📸Instagram: @emilymstochl
🐦Twitter: @emilymstochl
🎥TikTok: @emilymstochl
📧 Substack: https://prelovedpod.substack.com/
🎧Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/prelovedpod

SPECIAL THANKS:

A special thanks goes out to my Patron Insiders – your support makes Pre-Loved Podcast possible!

Patty Weber
Beverley Docherty of Wolfe Pack Vintage
Danny of Galaxy Live
Kathy Brand
Lucero Buendia
Tricia Zelazny
Leslie V.
Lisa of Queenie & Pearl
Lucille of Galipette Vintage
KT
Lydia Welp
Anastacia Banicke of Goods & Provisions
Michael A.

Previous Episode

undefined - S8 Ep3 NIK POLLINA: owner of Seven Moods vintage - on shopping vintage in New York, and a shift toward experiential shopping that facilitates unique personal style.

S8 Ep3 NIK POLLINA: owner of Seven Moods vintage - on shopping vintage in New York, and a shift toward experiential shopping that facilitates unique personal style.

Pre-Loved Podcast is a weekly vintage fashion interview show, with guests you’ll want to go thrifting with! For more Pre-Loved Podcast, subscribe to our Patreon!

On today’s show, we’re chatting with Nik Pollina is a vintage business owner and content creator living in NYC.

She started her career in tech and created content on her career journey helping 100s of women land jobs in the tech field. When she was laid off in 2023, Nik felt a calling to pursue something more creative. Since then, she has opened her own secondhand and vintage store called Seven Moods.

We chat about experiential shopping, some favorite vintage spots in New York City, and much much more! It’s a really fun episode today, so let’s dive right in!

DISCUSSED IN THE EPISODE:

[6:11] On how thrifting and creativity was something Nik was encouraged to express growing up.
[12:10] Nik’s journey to starting a vintage business after leaving her tech career.
[17:35] The paths to scaling a vintage business.
[21:34] Pinch me moments, like a stylist pull for Bella Hadid.
[22:41] What Nik has learned about the shopping experience from exploring hundreds of NYC vintage shops.
[26:19] A shift toward experiential shopping that facilitates unique personal style.

EPISODE MENTIONS:

LET’S CONNECT:

📸Instagram: @emilymstochl
🐦Twitter: @emilymstochl
🎥TikTok: @emilymstochl
📧 Substack: https://prelovedpod.substack.com/
🎧Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/prelovedpod

SPECIAL THANKS:

A special thanks goes out to my Patron Insiders – your support makes Pre-Loved Podcast possible!

Patty Weber
Beverley Docherty of Wolfe Pack Vintage
Danny of Galaxy Live
Kathy Brand
Lucero Buendia
Tricia Zelazny
Leslie V.
Lisa of Queenie & Pearl
Lucille of Galipette Vintage
KT
Lydia Welp
Anastacia Banicke of Goods & Provisions
Michael A.

Next Episode

undefined - S8 Ep5 MEAGAN SVENDSEN : vintage Coach bag restorer and collector - on the history of Coach and Bonnie Cashin, the rarest bags in her collection, and leather restoration advice.

S8 Ep5 MEAGAN SVENDSEN : vintage Coach bag restorer and collector - on the history of Coach and Bonnie Cashin, the rarest bags in her collection, and leather restoration advice.

Pre-Loved Podcast is a weekly vintage fashion interview show, with guests you’ll want to go thrifting with! For more Pre-Loved Podcast, subscribe to our Patreon!

On today’s show, we’re chatting with Meagan Svendsen, a Vintage Coach Bag Restorer & Collector. Meagan learned the love of vintage hunting and restoration from her mom who taught her every technique in the book. After losing her mom unexpectedly in 2021, and finding her first vintage Coach bag “in the wild” Meagan began collecting and restoring over 400 vintage Coach bags.

On this episode, we dive into the rich history of the Coach brand, including some background on Bonnie Cashin, the bags she designed, and the legacy that still holds today. Ultimately, Meagan loves vintage Coach because of the quality of the vintage leather, which is truly meant to last. As a restorer and collector, it’s her goal to breathe new life into vintage bags, and she shares some of her best tips and tricks.

This episode is a really fun deep dive, so let’s get right into it!

DISCUSSED IN THE EPISODE:

[3:08] Meagan grew up antiquing, and restoring old things alongside her mother.
[8:01] The history of the Coach brand, starting as a family-owned leather goods brand in the early 1960s.
[9:53] The story of Bonnie Cashin, the original creative director for Coach in the 1960s, who brought the infamous turnlock to the brand.
[16:25] Meagan’s goal with restoration: bring the bag back to its best condition, with the least invasive technique.
[17:28] The story of some of the rarest Coach bags, like the United Airlines Coach stewardess bag, or the Coach Federal bag (rumored to be gifts from President Nixon, according to clippings from October 21, 1972 from The Indianapolis Star).
[24:38] Prior to 1994, there’s a process of elimination of clues to date and name your Coach bag. After that time, the Coach creed utilizes an alpha-numerical system.
[27:41] All about the different colors of Coach bags – some of the rare colors, and how color impacts your cleaning process.
[31:47] A deep dive into leather handbag restoration.
[42:43] Some of the most special stories of pieces in Meagan’s collection, like her 1966 ‘See Thru Shopping Bag’ and her Coach Crescent collection, in every known color!

EPISODE MENTIONS: