India, May 21 -- At the ongoing 77th Cannes Film Festival, model Naomi Campbell pulled out all the stops as she restyled a black haute couture Chanel sequin dress. Campbell wore the dress on the runway, as part of their Autumn/Winter 1996 collection. Actor Zendaya, too, strutted down the Met Gala 2024 red carpet wearing a never-worn-before Givenchy couture corset gown by John Galliano from their spring 1996 collection.

Often confused with vintage style, archival fashion would be rightly defined as clothing from a designer's older collections, especially picks that influenced the world of fashion in an unprecedented way. "It gives us a historical record of rare materials and the popularity of luxury goods at large. These are preserved for...