THE WARDROBE hunters
FORGET THE MAGNIFYING GLASS and deerstalker hat — the Sherlock Holmes of the fashion scene comes with far better style. Bettina Looney answers the door to her London apartment wearing an Alessandra Rich blazer with crystal buttons, black balloon trousers, Salvatore Ferragamo vintage pumps and a velvet scrunchie. “If a client wants something, we’ll find it,” she says, beckoning me inside.
Looney’s job rests on her success at finding the things no-one else can. She is one of a number of elite wardrobe hunters — a self-styled, newfangled career that sees her scouring the world for fashion’s most coveted and exclusive items. Her customer: the sort of woman who has everything, except for a piece from Marc Jacobs’ famed original grunge collection for Perry Ellis from SS93, that is.
She recounts the time a client “just had to have” a limited-edition, personalised Christian Dior Book Tote. At the time, the bag had little availability in Asia (where the client was based), and personalisation was only available in Paris. Within hours, Looney
