Tommy Ton

Before picking up his Nikon D5000 to create the formidable style blog Jak & Jil, Toronto-based street photographer Tommy Ton worked for a vintage fashion collector for five years. It’s his awareness of this esoteric world, populated by obsessive buyers with a sixth sense for hunting down historical treasure, that led him to author, filmmaker and fashion historian Liz Goldwyn. “I’ve known about Liz for eight years now,” says Ton of the fashion world darling, whose knack for self-styling has earned plaudits from Vogue among others. “She’s not one of those people who you always see in the latest designer—she has a passion for a certain time period, which is more interesting. I like people who are as hardcore as she is.” For today’s portfolio, commissioned by NOWNESS, Ton followed Goldwyn to the vintage pop-up marketplace A Current Affair, which she hosted in Los Angeles, in order to capture the adept scout in action—and also snapped her at home, away from the collecting frenzy. “It is super competitive,” Goldwyn says of these events. “I’m like a hawk—there’s no time for chit-chat.” NOWNESS secured a private audience with Goldwyn, who gave us a master class on shopping strategy and revealed why most things come down to sex and history. To read the interview, click here.