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For Younger Collectors, Fashion Is the New Fine Art

Millennial and Gen Z buyers are on the hunt for archival runway pieces, storied handbags and star-worn costumes, and auction houses are rushing to meet them where they're at.

In The Devil Wears Prada 2, Anne Hathaway’s Andy Sachs borrows a flowing, multicolored patchwork Gabriela Hearst dress from the closet of the fictional Runway magazine to wear to the Hamptons. An investigative journalist by training and a dilettante in the fashion world, Hathaway’s heroine promises Stanley Tucci’s Nigel that the dress will stay spotless. In short order, she spills an hors d’oeuvre on it and runs to the kitchen to scrub off the growing stain.

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Knockoffs of the tainted frock have since proliferated online, promising the look without the $7,900 price tag, but they can’t beat the real thing. Hearst’s hand-painted linen maxi dress is based on a vibrant geometric drawing and took a team of 40 artisans to bring to life. Last month, it went on the block at Christie's, part of a dedicated online sale of apparel and accessories from The Devil Wears Prada 2, where it achieved $12,160 over a $4,000 high estimate. The sale was an homage to the summer blockbuster with proceeds going in part to the Committee to Protect Journalists, in keeping with Andy and Miranda’s fight to defend fashion journalism amid corporate mergers.

“This is really Meryl Streep’s brainchild,” Nathalie Ferneau, 30, an associate specialist for Private and Iconic Collections at Christie’s, told Observer. “We have costumes that were worn on screen, we have some pieces that were ready to be worn on screen but may not have actually made it in the film, we have couture........

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