Barlow
Collector-turned-retailer sells hand-picked vintage wares online and at an NYC store
Vintage isn’t just a passing craze; for many, it’s a lifestyle. People traverse the globe looking for one-of-a-kind items for their wardrobe and home that fall outside the spectrum of what’s on offer in most stores. Now, longtime collector Julie Janklow is bringing her finds forward and Barlow is the result. The site features vintage discoveries, collected over years of hunting, that Janklow deems special enough to be included in the collection.
This lifestyle vintage hub has imagination at its core. According to Janklow, “Each season I choose a girl and create a world for her: Eats, smells, sounds and visuals.” She develops a fully formed character, with an understanding of “where she holidays and what she gives as gifts.” From this, Janklow puts an entire collection together—from attire to accessories—that perfectly suits that season’s character.
“It was an evolution of interests—I had been collecting vintage items since I was younger,” explains Janklow of the project. Once the lead singer of alternative rock band Star 69, she preferred to dress herself for performances and shoots. Through years touring, many options arose to collect pieces not found anywhere else. “I always wore vintage. I was attracted to that,” she notes. Vintage factored into her professional life in two more ways along the path to Barlow. When developing NYC’s West Village restaurant Sweetiepie, she furnished the space with vibrant vintage interiors inspired by the LA coffee shops of yesteryear. Later, the vintage interior design of her home would be featured in Vogue. It was many years later that Janklow began showing pieces to a friend, Warm’s owner Winnie Beattie. Beattie suggested she bring some pieces into the shop, and from there they created their first look—which Janklow described as being of an “imaginary world.”
Both in store and online, Barlow has assembled seasonal items that Janklow personally discovered during fashion travels all over the world—oftentimes though; from London, New York and Los Angeles. From fur coats to pant-suits and ponchos, it’s an eclectic and fascinating mix of products, styles and eras.
Janklow doesn’t want Barlow to be limited to clothing and accessories (they also host a children’s section) and already envisions household items, including vintage lamps and lampshades. But admits that even cars and homes themselves are pursued by lovers of vintage: “All of it,” she says, “could one day factor into the business. I hope this expands into a collective.”
With prices ranging from $100 to $3,000, each hand-picked Barlow item can be purchased online through the Barlow site. To check out Warm‘s in-store stylings, visit Warm at 181 Mott Street, New York, NY 10012.
Images courtesy of Barlow
