Upstairs Garments: An Archival Fashion Store For Rare Grails
The archive store that feels like stepping into your fashion bestie’s museum-worthy wardrobe.
Most of the pieces at Upstairs Garments reportedly hail from the very own wardrobes of store founders Xavier Eger, Ong Ker Hsien, Adrienne Chrisdee and Vegas Lee, who had previously sourced them from private collectors, traders, consignment stores and marketplaces here and overseas. Hit up the physical boutique where they store their entire collection, including pieces that have yet to be launched on their e‐store or are not for sale, and be bowled away by its range and cultural depth.
WHAT IT’S ABOUT: Its story begins with its Gen Z founders’ wardrobes that were bursting with vintage pieces with interesting stories, but were no longer worn regularly. Inspired by archive stores in Japan, where warm hospitality and fashion education are as – if not more – important than “pushing a sale”, they launched an e‐store (upstairsgarments.com) and a permanent physical space a year ago.
Pictured here (clockwise from top right): a Spring Summer 2014 Comme des Garcons Homme Plus jacket created in collaboration with Japanese label Olleborebla; a darted women’s top from Undercover’s Spring Summer 2008 Summer Madness collection; a shirt from Comme des Garcons Homme’s Spring Summer 2003 collection, which was inspired by Havana, Cuba; and a reversible coat from the Fall Winter 2021 collection of Yohji Yamamoto’s Ground Y label – which boasted an unexpected partnership with the anime franchise Neon Genesis Evangelion – that is reportedly one of less than 30 pieces produced.
WHO’S BEHIND IT: Adrienne Chrisdee and Vegas Lee, who oversee the business’s creative direction on top of their day jobs at an advertising agency; engineering student Xavier Eger, who handles the finance and procurement; and polytechnic graduate Ong Ker Hsien, who takes care of the inventory and PR. All turn 23 this year save for Ong, who’s a year younger.
All eyes now on the four Gen Zers who founded the year‐old archival store Upstairs Garments with their personal wardrobe of vintage designer wear and infectious enthusiasm for the history and cultural significance of the garments. Clockwise from top left: Ong Ker Hsien, who takes care of the inventory and PR; Xavier Eger, who handles the finance and procurement; and Vegas Lee and Adrienne Chrisdee, who oversee the business’s creative direction.
WHERE IT’S LOCATED: In the attic of a shophouse at 75B Tanjong Pagar Road, which explains its name. Open on weekends, it’s by appointment only.
WHY YOU’LL KEEP GOING BACK: With more than 150 garments from brands ranging from Hedi Slimane‐era Dior Homme to Walter Van Beirendonck to all the Japanese avant‐gardes, Upstairs Garments boasts one of the best archival selections in town. What will win you over most, though, is the founders’ infectious passion for fashion and their dedication to spreading it. It’s why they set up a physical store in the first place: They believe the best way to experience clothing is through touch and personal interaction.
Their research process is geekily meticulous, to say the least. Besides turning to online databases such as Truss Archive and ArchivePDF to identify the provenance of a garment, they cross‐check the information against other publications and runway lookbooks, and when that’s not enough, they reach out to the designers themselves (Isamu Katayama and Theseus Chan are two who have responded).
A meeting with the founders always means a light‐hearted and inspiring discourse on fashion history (get a taste of it on the store’s namesake Instagram and TikTok accounts), while a shelf of rare fashion and design publications free for all to browse further shows how this is how to make fashion truly inclusive.
This article first appeared in the March 2025 Great Fashion Edition of FEMALE