ANGELO CAROLI

The History, from It's Founding to the Present Day

Angelo Caroli founded his business during the late Seventies.

At the time, he was a 17-year-old boy working for a local radio, where he would give his piece of advice about style and trends.
The boy was keen on fashion: everytime he happened to find anything he considered innovative or unconventional for the time, from clothes to accessories, he would buy and keep them. During those years, innovation meant everything coming from the United States: jeans, t-shirts, Hawaiian shirts and military jackets gradually became part of his growing collection.

In 1978, Angelo finally opened his first store. It was a small shop in Via Circondario Sud, 37 in his Italian hometown of Lugo (RA). Here, Angelo would display clothing Made in the U.S., which he would carefully and scrupulously select, clean and label.

Prices were affordable and his selection was ground-breaking, as a result of his a great passion and hard work. Angelo was persuaded that collecting clothes and accessories would lead to a higher cultural goal and he was determined to preserve the history of fashion through its most relevant pieces.
At that time, the word "vintage" didn't even exist - I was just selling second-hand from the U.S. Yet youngsters would go absolutely crazy for what I was doing. Their mothers were not as enthusiast though…
Throughout the years, the collection grew larger. Angelo kept collecting womenswear, menswear and kidswear from all over the world, from the XIX Century to the 1990s, including iconic, designer pieces, military and casual clothes, activewear and workwear. Apart from surrounding himself of beauty, this work had many beneficial effects: collecting also meant recovering and recycling, which at the time were absolutely new concepts.
I think fashion is a way to express yourself, your uniqueness. But it is also an ethical choice. When you wear vintage, you choose to give another chance to an item and take care of its life.
A.N.G.E.L.O. Vintage Palace was founded on June 6th, 1992.
The first smaller store of the 1970s found a new home in a magnificent 1400 sqm historic building where, alongside with the boutique, the newly born A.N.G.E.L.O. Archive was opened.
The Archive would serve professionals in the fashion industry to view and rent special pieces from an exclusive, historic collection. Clothes and accessories wouldn't be for sale, but would be part of a major, permanent collection - just like a library with clothes instead of books.
As the news spread, designers from the most famous brands and stylists from fashion magazines would visit the Archive more and more frequently to find inspiration and creative impulses for future trends - and they still do.

Today, A.N.G.E.L.O. Vintage Palace is considered one of the most relevant vintage clothing stores in Europe and its historical archive is a mecca for fashion professionals and researchers worldwide.