Finders Keepers
Amy Abrams, co-owner of Manhattan Vintage and other popular city markets, sees the future in the past — and she's made a career out of it.
It all began with a button. Several, actually, and antique jewelry.
“I was completely smitten,” says Amy Abrams of her childhood treasure hunts to flea markets and stores like Heart’s Desire in her home city of Chicago, whose owner, she says, “had an incredible collection.”
Then there was her Mom’s silver collection and baubles from her grandmother, who “loved the bling,” she says. “I have been incredibly fortunate to inherit a lot of fabulous vintage jewelry.”
This early introduction to beauty in the form of objects eventually led Amy and her husband, Ronen Glimer, to curate and co-found Artists & Fleas, a marketplace for makers that brims with originality. The concept took off and paved the way for them to acquire the city’s most beloved fashion forum, Manhattan Vintage, in 2021. She just wrapped her fifth spring show last week.
“It was truly kismet to be given the opportunity to carry this iconic brand forward,” Amy tells me. “Vintage allows you to define your own point of view, and that’s very much part of my DNA.”
I couldn’t agree more. I love to time-travel through the eras via vintage clothing and accessories. As a teenager, it provided me with an authentic form of self-expression.
In fact, I have bought some of my favorite pieces at Manhattan Vintage over the years, including a purple and black geometric coat from the 1970s that — fun fact! — I was photographed wearing alongside the QUEEN of vintage herself, Iris Apfel, at Paris Fashion Week. I also purchased a killer pair of long black leather opera gloves with cutout flowers that expose just the right amount of skin. I cherish them!
When it comes to scouring the stands herself, Amy — whose daily uniform includes jeans and a vintage Hermès scarf — says her first few acquisitions beyond Mom and grandma really shaped her eye. Those included an Enid Collins embellished box purse, “which I still have,” she says; a Victorian lavaliere, which she also still has; a suede cowboy hat (yup, in rotation!), and a vintage ’70s Adini caftan that — you guessed it! — she continues to wear.
Over the past four years, I’ve seen how Amy’s elevated Manhattan Vintage by expanding the anchor show to three days, three times a year, introducing curated editions in special locations like the Hamptons, and launching focused shows like jewelry, denim, and home — the latter of which, Material Matters, debuted this year. (I missed it, but Sara Lieberman went and came back coveting, well, everything!)
Still, while her professional life tends to look towards the past, her personal life is planted in the present. When asked what brings her the most day-to-day joy, she named Ronen, their two kids, 20-year-old Ruby and 18-year-old Noa, two dogs, Romi and Scarlett, and either “a great cup of coffee or a glass of wine or beer on the stoop.”
Cheers to that.
What are the last fashion and home items you acquired, and the last items you gave away?
I just returned from Austin and found an incredible pair of cherry red 1960s deadstock cowgirl boots, and I recently gave my daughter a pair of vintage Levi’s. Home-wise, we just bought a red Moroccan carpet, and we’re in the process of letting go of an antique French mail sorting desk.
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