Purchasing couture is one thing, but the opportunity to purchase a plum Andre Laug Haute Couture wool skirt suit, worn by a baroness while meeting the President of Equatorial Guinea, doesn’t come around very often.
Detroit resident Abimbola Fernandez founded The Collection, a resale company and archive that specializes in luxury vintage and legacy couture, in 2015 after inheriting over 2,000 garments from her mother, the baroness of Dudley (a town near Birmingham), England, who passed away two years prior. She stores her archive in New York City and pulls from it about three times a year to curate small capsules.
Looks from the Baroness’ Closet
Fernandez says she does this to pay homage to her mother, Chief Aduke O. Fernandez, and “embed her legacy into fashion culture.” Fernandez’s first sale included 700 items, and she donated a part of the proceeds to the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, in honor of her mother who died of colon cancer.
Now through the end of May, at Robyn, a curated retail space in Midtown that rotates items from artists and designers, you can peruse through a capsule of legacy couture from her mother’s wardrobe. Highlights include a Givenchy Life Micro Diamond Wool skirt suit from the 1990s ($600), a Chanel Creme Trouser from the early 2000s ($500), a Dolce & Gabbana Grey Cashmere trouser ($300), and more. There are also accessories and shoes available, not from her mother’s closet, including a Versace x Rosenthal Crystal Medusa Ashtray ($425), Ferragamo Bow Ballet Flats ($250), and Saks Fifth Avenue Gold Heel Pumps ($150).
Fernandez, moved to Detroit from Los Angeles at the end of 2022, to undergo a “personal reset,” after the death of her parents, who held titles of baron and baroness of Dudley. Her father, His Excellency Ambassador Deinde Fernandez, was also the descendent of the Olumegbon Royal Family of Lagos Island in Nigeria, the United Nation’s Permanent Representative for Central African Republic, and one of the richest men in Africa.
“I think that Detroit embodies this spirit that’s really helped me through my grief,” Fernandez says. “The city is so resilient, and I’ve really taken that from every aspect of everything I’ve seen so far.”
To explain what it’s been like navigating through life since her parent’s very public divorce and passing, Fernandez starred in African Royale, available on Amazon Prime, to tell her story of trauma, grief, and her journey of figuring out “what am I here for?”
To learn more about The Collection, visit thecollectioneu.shop. To learn more about Robyn, visit heyrobyn.us. Plus, find even more community shopping news at hourdetroit.com.
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