Thrifting '90s Italian Vintage In New York City

GQMagazine

At Ebreo Vintage in New York City, GQ style editor Yang-Yi Goh searches the racks for a rare, hard-to-find leather blazer. Ebreo, known for its vintage Italian clothing from the '90s, is packed with standout pieces from design houses like Missoni, Zegna, Armani, Brioni, and more. Yang is joined by owner Julien, who guides him through racks and rakcs of high-quality vintage finds. Watch as Yang explores blazers, pleated pants, cable-knit sweaters, and other gems on his quest to discover the perfect pieces to take home.  Director: Ava Rikki Director of Photography: Josh Herzog Editor: Robby Massey Host: Yang-Yi Goh Senior Producer: Lizzy Halberstadt Coordinating Producer: Kevyn Fairchild Line Producer: Jen Santos Production Manager: James Pipitone Production Coordinator: Elizabeth Hymes Camera Operator: Duell Davis Gaffer: David Djaco Audio Engineer: Sean Paulsen Production Assistant: Quinton Johnson Post Production Supervisor: Jess Dunn Post Production Coordinator: Stella Shortino Supervising Editor: Rob Lombardi Assistant Editor: Andy Morell Filmed on Location at: Ebreo Vintage

Transcript

00:00Hi, I'm Young.

00:01I'm the senior style editor at GQ.

00:03Today, we are at Ebreo Vintage in Brooklyn.

00:06They specialize in incredible Italian menswear

00:08from the 90s, so I'm gonna go pick out a few things I like,

00:11try them on, and talk to my friend Julian, the owner,

00:15to get a little more backstory about everything.

00:16Let's go do it.

00:22There are some amazing leather jackets on this rack,

00:25but a thing that I've been looking for personally

00:27for a little while now is a great leather blazer.

00:29It's kind of a hard thing to find,

00:31and there's this one here that really caught my eye

00:34from Mani, which is an offshoot of Giorgio Armani.

00:37I just really love how this is a really nice dark brown.

00:41There's some sort of crackling to the leather

00:43that's really nice and some really nice texture,

00:45so I definitely think I'm gonna try this on.

00:48I also had my eye on this guy, which is pretty interesting.

00:51It doesn't have lapels, it doesn't have a collar.

00:54It's more of a leather cardigan,

00:55which is not something you see every day,

00:57and I really like this sort of sage green color to it.

01:00I feel like it might look cool

01:01just thrown over a T-shirt and jeans, perhaps,

01:04maybe with a tie, like I'm wearing right now.

01:06It's very unusual, you don't see it every day.

01:08And then, hey, Julian.

01:11You rang.

01:12What's up, man?

01:12Hey.

01:13How's it gone?

01:14I had my eye on this Versace blazer up here on the wall.

01:17Yes, man of good taste.

01:19Voila.

01:20Beautiful.

01:21What is this, like a forest green, I guess?

01:22Yeah, it's a forest green.

01:24I always kind of think of that this shade of green

01:25is sort of like the thinking man's navy blue.

01:27You know, it's just as versatile, but a little less boring.

01:30This thing's awesome.

01:31Where'd you find it?

01:32I found it in Napoli, and when it comes to Versace,

01:35I really only try to get the stuff from the 80s

01:37with this really cool tag.

01:39Oh, wow, yeah.

01:40And I just absolutely love the color.

01:41Yeah, that's an absolute score.

01:43What's really special to me is that I just feel like

01:44you don't often see leather blazers

01:46that are double-breasted.

01:47That in itself is already rare.

01:48Sweet, man, thank you.

01:49I'm gonna try it on.

01:50All right, let's head over this way

01:52and check out some knitwear.

01:53There are some incredible classic sweaters on here,

01:58like this cable knit in a really nice color

02:01that's perfect for the spring and summer.

02:03It's like really light and breathable,

02:05but the thing that Italian designers

02:07are especially killer at are really, really freaky,

02:12wild, trippy, mind-bending knits like this one,

02:16that have these really wild flecks of color

02:18and geometric designs.

02:20There's another cardigan like that right here,

02:23which I'm absolutely loving.

02:25There is a really cool Armani polo

02:29that has a similar vibe as well.

02:31And then there's like a ton of killer Armani sweaters

02:34up on the wall here that are all trippy as well,

02:36but the piece de resistance is definitely this Missoni

02:40shawl collar cardigan slash jacket joint,

02:43and Missoni really is like the epicenter of this style.

02:46They kind of invented it and they mastered it.

02:49So we got to take a look at that.

02:50Missoni's great, it's really polarizing.

02:52You either hate it or love it,

02:54but you know, we have a whole collection of it in the back

02:56because it's so polarizing,

02:57we don't put a lot on the floor.

02:58One time someone came in head to toe with Missoni

03:01and Sabine immediately was just like,

03:03oh, he's gonna love the Missoni bit.

03:04And he's going through it

03:06and we're trying to tell them everything we know.

03:07And the guy just stops and he's like,

03:09I'm part of the family, like I know all this.

03:12And I knew it felt kind of silly.

03:13He was just like, yeah,

03:14I really just want this one specifically

03:16because I had it specifically.

03:17And then one of my ex-girlfriends stole it.

03:19He was like, it needs to go back to, you know,

03:20it needs to go back to his rightful home.

03:22Maybe it was the exact same one.

03:23Who knows?

03:24You know, that's New York for you.

03:25Very, very cool.

03:26Well, I'm stoked.

03:27I personally fall on the loving it side of the spectrum

03:31and I'm excited to try this one on too.

03:34We got some leather, we got some knitwear.

03:35Let's check out some pants now.

03:37Hey, Julian, do you got anything in a 36 maybe?

03:41We actually have like a bin of like every waste in the back.

03:44So let me schlep one out for you.

03:49Wow. Would you look at that?

03:50How convenient.

03:51You will have to dig a bit.

03:52Great.

03:53But I'm sure there's something in here.

03:54And there's something fun about digging through,

03:56getting to like, you know,

03:57this big treasure chest full of pants

03:59that maybe there's something incredible

04:01and they're waiting for me.

04:02I feel less bad about making a mess

04:04if I'm just like going through a rack.

04:06I promise you that you are not destroying this bin

04:08as much as some of our other customers.

04:10It is a work of art sometimes what people leave behind.

04:12Wow. These already are really cool.

04:14Le Coppin, is that like a French?

04:16We cheat here at Abreo occasionally on the Italians.

04:19It does say made in Italy though.

04:21Ah, saved by the belt.

04:22Oh, these are cool.

04:23These are basically the pants I'm wearing right now,

04:24but just a little bit heavier.

04:26I believe there is some cashmere in those pants.

04:29Yeah. Yeah.

04:30Laura Piana cashmere, I believe.

04:31Yeah. I mean, these are just such a beautiful

04:33sort of classically cut pair of dress pants.

04:36Really nice double pleats on the front.

04:39And then this fabric is just really beautiful.

04:40I don't know if you can see it,

04:41but it's got little flecks of blue

04:45in this window pane pattern here.

04:47It's just really nice and Tweety.

04:48This little pocket right here is actually a watch pocket.

04:51It's to hold your pocket watch as it were.

04:53But I think now you could probably keep

04:55whatever you want in there.

04:56Definitely, definitely my kind of pants.

04:59All right. Now let's check out some shirts.

05:01There is plenty of great stuff on this rack as well.

05:05You know, what's interesting is that

05:06this is a rack full of shirts,

05:07but the thing that is catching my eye the most

05:09is this suit here.

05:11Oh wow. It's Lavant.

05:13It's linen and it is, it is my size.

05:16So I'm definitely going to try this on.

05:17These stripes are really, really rad.

05:19That's going to be super nice for like a summer wedding.

05:22Maybe just a hot day that I have to go to the office.

05:25Thank God we're so disorganized.

05:26I know. Yeah. Yeah.

05:27It just so happened to be right there

05:28in the middle of the rack. Yeah.

05:29Oh wow. This Missoni shirt is amazing too.

05:32I'm on a bit of a Missoni kick today.

05:33I mean, this pattern, as you can see,

05:35is just completely crazy.

05:36It looks like waves happening.

05:38Appears to be linen as well.

05:40It's like really nice and light.

05:42With these really intricate patterns,

05:44like they wind up using synthetic material.

05:46And I always was like, oh, this means it's shit quality.

05:49But actually like some guy came in as a designer once

05:52is just kind of explained to me

05:53that it's not a matter of saving money.

05:54It's just these things cannot functionally exist

05:57and be durable and maintain this kind of weaving

06:00without some sort of synthetic.

06:02So you're probably right with the linen,

06:03but I'm sure it's some sort of blend.

06:05Last but not least, there's this Xenia shirt.

06:08You know, Xenia, one of the great Italian tailoring houses.

06:12They make some of the best suiting fabrics in the world.

06:14It might be a little small on me,

06:16but I'm definitely going to give it a go.

06:17I just love this color combination

06:18of like this sort of deep chocolate brown

06:21with some lighter tones

06:23and a really cool little baby blue stripe in there as well.

06:26It's got a great sort of Italian spread collar on it.

06:29The spread collar is just like it says,

06:31it's spread a little bit wider

06:33than a typical point collar.

06:35It's sort of meant to allow you to wear a thicker tie knot

06:38if you so desire.

06:40Oh man, there's a whole rack full of great sport coats here too.

06:43And this one is really calling my name.

06:45Vintage Armani from the eighties.

06:47Super, super beautiful.

06:49A lot of guys come to the shop

06:50and when they come in,

06:52they tell me they have long arms.

06:53Like with vintage, it's just like,

06:55so like, you know, people get their arms short.

06:57And see if you have long arms,

06:58you have to look for someone who has had long arms.

07:00And so I always remember this piece

07:01because I know it's going to fit the perfect person

07:03with long arms and not to tailor it at all.

07:05Well, I hope I'm that person

07:07because this is an awesome piece.

07:08This pattern is really interesting

07:09because it's almost like a Prince of Whale check,

07:11but it's not quite.

07:13That's the funny thing about Armani.

07:14Like they would bring these textile patterns

07:16and stuff into the jackets that were just so crazy,

07:19but it's so hard to find them in perfect condition.

07:21And people always kind of like confuse quality

07:24with durability,

07:25but it's really hard for me often to find pieces like this

07:27where there's not blown seams

07:29because it is quite fragile,

07:30the weaving and the texture and the textiles you use.

07:33It's got this really intricate knit,

07:34but it's got like, you know, quite a loose hand.

07:36So I feel like it'll be,

07:37it'll feel quite light to wear,

07:38which is also really nice.

07:39Man. Oh my God.

07:40All right. I pulled way too much stuff to try on.

07:42So I better get started.

07:43Let's go see what fits.

07:59All right. Tried everything on, made a few selections.

08:02So here's what I got.

08:03I'm going to grab this Armani blazer from the eighties.

08:07The texture is so cool.

08:09And I love how low this button stance is,

08:11which is such like an old school eighties thing

08:13that you really don't see anymore.

08:14And it's 175.

08:16So that's feels like a pretty good value.

08:17I'm also going to grab this Mani leather blazer.

08:21It just has such cool texture to it.

08:24I thought it fit pretty well.

08:25And it's really just that like Anthony Bourdain,

08:27Tony Soprano kind of leather blazer

08:29that I've been looking for.

08:30This is $250.

08:32Finally, I am going to grab this Missoni cardigan.

08:37I just think the knit is so crazy and cool and unusual.

08:41And I'm really excited to add it to my wardrobe.

08:42And this is $250 as well.

08:44This was such a cool experience.

08:46It's such a specific slice of menswear culture

08:49and such a specific era of menswear.

08:52It was really cool to learn more about Italian labels

08:54and try on some suit.

08:57Thank you so much.

08:58All right.

08:59Thanks for walking the racks with me

09:01and we'll see you at the next store.

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