The internet’s fame sleuths, however, are not easily deterred. When Angelina Jolie’s daughter, Zahara, wore a gold-trimmed white Grecian gown from the Kit Vintage to the premiere of “Eternals” at the Rome Film Festival in 2021, hashtags bloomed like cherry blossoms in April.
Ms. Goldberg said she appreciates that the Jolies come in to browse themselves. She wrinkles her nose a little at working with celebrity stylists, who often want items for free and can be stingy with sourcing credit. Many red-carpet regulars, anyway, are beholden to their lucrative deals with fashion houses.
And yet modern designers regularly examine the couple’s offerings for inspiration, including John Galliano, whose brand the couple says is one of the most requested these days, over a decade since he was fired from Dior after an antisemitic rant in Paris.
“He’s actually really very nice,” Mr. Plotitsa said. “And we’re Jews.”
With sites like Depop and Etsy, a younger generation has cottoned to the idea that previously worn clothes are not icky or kooky, but ecologically responsible. Many are rolling their eyes at the insane markups of traditional wedding vendors.
One bride-to-be recently spent $600 on a simple silk dress from the Kit that her artist friends could build a theme around at Burning Man; another, saying “I just want drama,” splurged on an open-backed iridescent “taffeta monstrosity” from Donna Karan’s 2005 fall runway for her rehearsal dinner for $2,500.
To properly showcase such treasures, Ms. Goldberg said she “manifested” occupancy of the current store, in a historical landmark building, after seeing a For Lease sign in the window.
“They were signing a cyber cafe,” she said. “I was like, ‘Well, that’s the wrong business for you.’”