Every morning, before coffee or working out, the New York-based photographer and content creator Tanya Ravichandran starts her day by scrolling through a bevy of resale sites. “I wake up, go on my phone, and immediately check every single secondhand app’s listings,” she says. It may sound like a shopping compulsion, but Ravichandran has a crystal-clear focus: She is always on the hunt for vintage items from Alexander McQueen and Ann Demeulemeester. “I have a bot that scours the entire internet twenty-four seven. I don’t miss a single thing.”
Ravichandran—who is based in Greenpoint, Brooklyn—has gained an online following for her impressive (and growing) collection of pieces from these two avant-garde labels. On TikTok, where she has over a million followers, Ravichandran will often reveal a glimpse inside her one-of-a-kind wardrobe, which currently holds over 200 Demeulemeester pieces and over 400 from McQueen. She began seriously stockpiling the designers about three years ago. “I’ve been collecting for the past decade, but not at the level at which I am looking on the internet nonstop now,” says Ravichandran. “It’s become quite an obsession, and I’ve really refined how to collect; It’s easier to collect when you’re hyper-focused.”
While her (mostly black-and-white) closet is filled with other labels such as Margiela and Tom Ford-era Gucci, Ravichandran’s focus on Demeulemeester and McQueen has made her collection extremely unique. So, why the fascination around those two designers in particular?
With McQueen, Ravichandran says she has been drawn to the late designer’s romantic storytelling. (He passed in 2010.) “Every McQueen show had its own little world, and each of his models were characters with stories,” says Ravichandran, who can relate this approach to her own personal style. “I love dressing like a character in my own story. Oftentimes, when I wear McQueen, I like wearing the whole look, because I want to be an extension of that story.”
