Doris Raymond - Building Wealth Through Collecting
- Lennie Rose
- Apr 3
- 3 min read
Updated: May 5
Collector & Dealer of Vintage Fashion, Accessories and Jewelry, Haute Couture, Red Carpet and Museum Quality Clothing
Long before it was founded in 1995 and renamed eBay in 1997 and The Real Real emerged in 2011, Doris Raymond saw luxury in pre-owned clothing and accessories, when others saw used and low budget goods.
The First Layer: Doris Sees Value Where Others Don’t
As early as the 1970s, most vintage clothing was not considered luxury. Pre-owned garments were considered secondhand and often donated or discarded. Doris Raymond saw something different. She was drawn not just to how pieces looked, but to their construction, fabric, maker and historical context. She understood that a 1930s bias-cut gown or a 1960s couture piece wasn’t just clothing. It was an artifact with craftsmanship and scarcity.
The Second Layer: Early, Unstructured Acquisition
Raymond didn’t start with enormous capital or a formal plan. She started with passion, digging through thrift stores, sourcing from estate sales and buying pieces others overlooked. At the time she began there was no strong brand-centric and desirable resale market, no widespread authentication systems and little competition. This created an opportunity to acquire pieces at prices far below what they would later command. Most importantly, she was learning rapidly.
The Third Layer: Knowledge as Currency
As she handled more garments, Raymond developed an internal database on how to identify true couture, how to recognize construction techniques and how to distinguish eras, designers, rarity and context. She evolved from buyer and dealer to expert and connoisseur, a critical transition point for any collector who understands that knowledge is ever evolving. She no longer needed the market to tell her what something was worth or if it did or did not have value. She had the depth of experience to determine the importance of any given piece and an eye to recognize intrinsic value.
The Fourth Layer: Focus and Positioning
Her collection focus was narrowed to museum-quality vintage, rare couture, historically significant 20th-century fashion, jewelry and accessories. She focused on iconic designers such as Chanel, Dior, Schiaparelli and 20th-century couture houses. This created a cohesive collection identity.
The Fifth Layer: From Collection to Inventory
After years of dealing privately, Raymond relocated her store, The Way We Wore to Los Angeles in 2004. It was positioned as a high-end, curated shop that offered collectible, culturally significant and investment-worthy pieces.
The Sixth Layer: Creating a Market
Raymond didn’t just participate in a market—she helped define it. Her clients include stylists, celebrities, collectors, institutions and museums. She became a bridge between historical and culturally significant clothing and accessories and modern demand. This drove industry awareness and pricing and validated the importance of iconic vintage fashion as luxury.
The Seventh Layer: Selective Monetization
As a serious collector and dealer, Raymond didn’t flip everything. She held important pieces, sold strategically, and curated what entered and left her inventory. This allowed her to maintain quality, build a reputation, and compound value over time.
What She Actually Built
Doris Raymond is a luminary in the luxury vintage fashion field.
She built a high-value archive and inventory of couture and 20th-century fashion, a business rooted in expertise and taste, and a reputation as a leading authority in vintage fashion. Her fortune has been founded on early acquisitions, deep knowledge, controlled selling, and an unbridled passion for what she does.
Her shop, The Way We Wore showroom, which operates today, is the ultimate shopping destination for vintage fashion and the home of the hit TV show "LA Frock Stars" which first aired in the U.S. on Smithsonian Channel.
To visit her store and shop to your heart’s content with Luxury Literacy,
The Underlying Mechanics (Why It Worked)
1. She entered before the market matured
Vintage luxury was undervalued when she started.
2. She developed expertise faster than the market
Knowledge gave her pricing power.
3. She focused on rarity and significance
Not volume
4. She created demand
Through curation, clients, and positioning.
5. She became a collector, dealer, authority and respected connoisseur
Her collection has become and continues to be a go-to destination for iconic vintage and 20th Century fashion, jewelry and accessories for collectors, institutions and high-end clientele.
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