The Seller Series: Yana McKillop

At ReSee, every one of our secondhand pieces comes with a story: perhaps that 1920s beaded gown had been in the same family for generations, while the Le Smoking suit was made by Monsieur Yves Saint Laurent for Catherine Deneuve herself. This is, in large part, thanks to our unmatched community of consignors, who have placed their inestimable trust in ReSee. In the Seller Series, industry titans and world-class collectors alike open up their archives, revealing the iconic items they parted with (and those they maybe never will). 

Yana McKillop, the London-based stylist and fashion director of Puss Puss Magazine, has one of those wardrobes we always want to see more of. Prada, old Céline, Nicolas Ghesquière’s Balenciaga, and years spent tracking down pieces from past collections. Her obsession with fashion started somewhere very different: growing up in Siberia, where the pages of Vogue Paris felt almost like a fairytale.
For our latest Seller Series, Yana shares how that early fascination shaped the way she dresses today, the pieces she still searches for, and the ones she’s ready to let go.

I read somewhere that you grew up in Siberia in the 1990s. What was it like?

I grew up in a big city in Siberia, so there was no amazing nature around, but also not much culture, as it was so remote and grey and dull. I never went to Moscow or on holiday until I was about fifteen, so my exposure to art or fashion was very limited. I didn’t get access to the internet until well into the mid-00s, and there were no fashion magazines around until the 00s, when I started buying Vogue Russia, which launched in 1998.

Growing up, I mostly read books and watched movies on VHS that my dad would bring home. As it was the 90s and my parents were at work all the time, I watched pretty much whatever I wanted, so I’d seen Basic Instinct, Casino and Showgirls well before it was appropriate. I was mesmerised by the clothes Sharon Stone and Gina Gershon wore.

In 1999, MTV finally launched in my city, so I’d spend hours watching music videos after school. I was obsessed with the Spice Girls and their outfits. Then I started watching Sex and the City around the age of fifteen, and that is how fashion entered my imagination as something you could actually do for a living (it was the first time I heard of Anna Wintour).

Do you think growing up there influenced your relationship with fashion and the way you dress today?

I think the extreme deprivation of beauty, culture and fashion definitely made me hungrier for these things once they became accessible to me. I still spend a lot of time and money hunting down archival pieces from the past that haunted my imagination back then, and it feels surreal to own them now.

I also can never resist buying another beautiful thing or going to see another ballet, play or exhibition, just because I can and because it makes me feel happy, even if not for all that long.

How did you discover fashion growing up? Do you remember an image, person or fashion moment that really stayed with you?

I had one treasure that I’ve kept to this day and brought with me everywhere I’ve moved—in 1992, my dad went to Moscow and brought my mum two issues of Vogue Paris and a special edition about Karen Mulder (I am so excited about her return—she was always my favourite!).

It was the time of the supermodels, and I’d pore over the ads with Cindy, Linda, Naomi and Karen. It was so otherworldly compared to our reality that I just couldn’t comprehend that those people and clothes were real. To me, it could well have been a fairytale book.

There were two ads in particular that I couldn’t take my eyes off—sometimes I’d come home and just stare at them for a while: the Yves Saint Laurent Y perfume ad and the Very Valentino ad. Despite being quite a minimalist in my day-to-day dressing, I can’t resist a bit of embellishment and drama every now and then.

You spend your working life looking at clothes. Has that changed the way you dress yourself?

Yes, definitely—early on, when I was just starting out, I was so excited about fashion that I’d dress up to go to shoots and generally could look quite flamboyant.

Lately, I find myself a bit fatigued by the constant stream of product and imagery, so I crave more simplicity. That is why, I feel, Phoebe Philo really gets my heart rate going—it is deceptively simple, but the clothes are so well designed and made that you still feel dressed up and composed in them.

Of the pieces you’re selling with ReSee, are there any that hold a particularly special memory for you?

I have recently sent off a rare embellished Prada dress that I bought at a charity auction the brand held during Covid. I really wanted to love it and wear it, but after a few years I realised that it is just not me (it sold pretty quickly). I really try not to hold on to too many things I know I won’t wear, as I’m not a collector in the true sense. Too much stuff really burdens me.

There’s also the iconic Balenciaga coat from the Ghesquière era that I bought online from a vintage store in the US, and it turned out to be so tiny I couldn’t even fit my arms into it properly. There’s also a Balenciaga coat from one of Demna’s early collections that I adore, but again realise I will not wear. I hope there’s someone out there more daring than I am.

Are there any great stories behind how or where you found some of the pieces in the sale?

The Balenciaga dress by Ghesquière from Resort 2012 was found at a now long-gone store in Prague, where I scavenged through past seasons’ sales in the basement (there were some gems there!).

I still have a picture my friend took of me there, my eyes shining, holding a red satin Balenciaga jacket, which was totally out of my budget, so it had to be left behind. That dress was the first designer piece of clothing I ever bought. The Miu Miu shirt from the AW15 collection was, maybe, the second. That was my flamboyant stage.

Looking at your wardrobe today, what has changed most about the way you dress from ten years ago?

The peacocking stage is finally gone. I was so excited about buying things, whether new or from past collections, that I would sometimes acquire stuff I’d never wear. It happens less now—my allegiances are firmly with Phoebe Philo (including Old Céline pieces I still wear on repeat) and Prada.

I admire the work of many other designers, but I either can’t afford them (I’m talking about Chanel now), or they don’t really work for me in the long run. I'm also still on the lookout for some pieces from past Prada collections.

What are 1–2 great tips for editing your wardrobe?

If there’s something in your wardrobe you love but don’t seem to be wearing very often, make an effort to wear it out and see how you feel. If you feel amazing in it and want to wear it again, keep it. If not—if something doesn’t quite fit right, something is pulling, you’re constantly adjusting it, or you just don’t feel all that excited about it—let it go. Chances are it will just keep hanging there for another few years.

I've also found that putting away things I wear a lot helps me see and reach for other things that aren't in high rotation. It also feels exciting to then cycle the stored-away pieces back into your wardrobe.

Shop Yana's Wardrobe