collage by me, images from the neon hive and style.com archive
There aren’t that many designers who consistently blow my mind and make me drool all the way down to my socks. I admire the work of many people, but I don’t want to wear a lot of the stuff I see around. I bumped into someone I know the other night and told him Luella went bust and that it was the worst news ever. He said he didn’t like Luella because it wasn’t “edgy” enough. Pointing at my outfit that day, my answer was just “I don’t do edgy”.
Thinking about it further, I wouldn’t actually say Luella’s designs aren’t edgy. They certainly aren’t avant-garde, or innovative, but they are edgy in their own way. They have an edgy take on girly-wirly, they have an edgy take on traditional, quintessentially British style.
Her very first catwalk show back in February 2000 was called “Daddy, who were The Clash?” and was all about updated Mod and punk… Her last show, this September reached heights of lovely frillyness. The Luella girl has been through a multitude of aspects from punk to preppy to frumpy to urban to rural, but always keeping her distance from a very serious fashion scene.
She showed in London, Milan and New-York, always bringing a dash of colours and a truck load of fun with her.
Her latest collection, shown during London Fashion Week in September was a real delight for me… but it won’t go into production.
I hope the future will involve some new projects by Miss Bartley.
We are all Luella girls.
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