During his travels around the country visiting vintage markets, Daryl Sneed unearthed an orange-and-brown plaid trench coat that perhaps would have best been left in the ’70s.
Instead, Sneed and his team at Ricorso, a new Chicago-based women’s clothing line, recreated the coat, keeping the best of the vintage design — the tight double-breasted bodice, the sharp lapels — while swapping out the unfortunate plaid for modern fabrics and details.
The resulting trench coat, in a navy blue Japanese cotton canvas with shimmering green sequins at the hem and cuffs, is part of Ricorso’s inaugural capsule collection, which launched last week. Called “The Ten,” for the number of pieces in the collection, it will be available through Dec. 12 at the Gold Coast boutique VMR, 34 E. Oak St..
Ricorso reimagines existing vintage pieces for modern sizes and sensibilities, aiming to maintain the special, one-of-a-kind appeal of vintage finds by offering limited inventory, generally one garment per style per size. (Most styles run sizes 2 through 14 but some are more limited). Prices range from $790 for day dresses to $3,600 for a long silk-wool dress; the trench coat runs $2,895.
Ricorso in Italian means “recourse,” but to Sneed, it carries deeper significance.
Three years ago, Sneed lost his business partner and best friend, Richard Morse, a fashion designer with whom he ran the “everyday essentials” clothing lines sp1t and Kirk James , and with whom he had won a Rising Star award from the Chicago chapter of The Fashion Group International.
At the funeral for Morse, who died of a heart issue at 55, Sneed, the business brains of their company, resolved to continue the work they started. Ever since, he has slowly been assembling a team of fashion professionals to create Ricorso — named, in part, for Richard.
The quartet behind Ricorso includes Aubrie Meyer, who teaches fashion construction at the School of the Art Institute, as technical director; stylist Stacey Jones, former fashion editor at Chicago magazine and currently fashion director at New York-based luxury magazine As If, as creative director; and veteran Chicago fashion designer Elda de la Rosa as head of tailoring.
Sneed, who works as chief talent officer at a health care company when he’s not starting a fashion line, is bankrolling the project while it gets off the ground.
“I think Richard would be happy with what we’re doing,” Sneed said.
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