The bright airy space has vintage purses, handmade sweaters–and carillon pipes along the ceiling. “Those are the chimes,” laughs owner Michele Longo, referring to the Kerrytown Chime. “I always know what time it is!” And based on brisk sales in the weeks since opening in mid-November, the time for the Collected Collage seems to be right.
Longo studied retail fashion in college, where she began buying and selling vintage clothing. Originally she set up shop at various craft markets until she landed at the Rust Belt in Ferndale, an indoor weekend market in a onetime department store on Woodward. After spending two years commuting from Ypsilanti to the weekend-only marketplace, Longo decided to look for space locally. “I’ve always loved this area of Ann Arbor,” she says of Kerrytown.
The new shop carries a wide variety of vintage clothing, including handmade shawls and scarves. The large collection of antique jewelry ranges from simple, elegant beaded necklaces to mosaic brooches to art deco rings. She’s also incorporating handmade new work “from the people I’ve admired for so long,” including Erin Morin, a macrame artist from Ypsi who uses found objects such as driftwood and deer antlers to make wall hangings and plant hangers, and Lindsey Leyland, owner of Ann Arbor’s The Getup Vintage, who makes clothing out of vintage fabric and patterns.
Originally from upstate New York, Longo “fell in love with Michigan when I did a road trip through the Upper Peninsula” in 2013. “This is such a great state with so many different landscapes … I looked around and said, ‘I want to live here.'”
She’s happy with her Kerrytown location, too. “There is so much going on and I love being a part of this whole collective.”
The Collected Collage, Kerrytown Market & Shops, 773-3166. Mon., Tues., Thurs., Fri. 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Wed. & Sat. 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. etsy.com/shop/theCollectedCollage
