Women Rejoice! Luella Bartley & Katie Hillier Announce New Line
Luella Bartley & Katie Hillier. Photo: Getty Images
Sadness spread over the fashion industry when Marc by Marc Jacobs announced its end last week. And not just because so many of us grew up alongside the label, which was the ultimate expression of cool with its mix of cool unknown models alongside people like Kim Gordon, but also because we’d been ecstatic that British designer Luella Bartley was back in our lives. Where would she go now?
Much like Marc by Marc had served as a measure of cool for the, “Oh well, whatever, nevermind”-kids, Bartley’s did the same in London, providing the ideal clothes for the girl with an in-your-face attitude and a flair for dressing up. “Daddy, who were The Clash?,” the title of her first fashion show, is all you need to know about her cheeky sense of humor. Over the next decade, that same punk attitude and uncanny ability to know what women wanted to wear right now, made her a favorite of young women everywhere. There was probably an audible “OH NO!” heard throughout New York and London when it was announced her label would be closing in 2009.
So thank god that today, there’s news that Bartley and her ex-Marc by Marc Jacobs partner Katie Hillier, are launching a new line, Hillier Bartley, with inspiration “somewhere between Ian McCulloch and Katherine Hepburn,” set to hit stores this fall. The two have been friends and collaborators since the ‘90s, and this new endeavor will undoubtedly bring a fresh point of view not often found in fashion: the working women for working women angle.
While fashion is heralded as a mostly feminine interest, when it comes to the runway, male designers greatly outnumber female ones. Not that there’s anything wrong with that! Designers like J.W. Anderson and Proenza Schouler’s vision for womanhood is always elevated, classy, and respectful, but there is still a need for a point of view that comes from living as a woman day to day and knowing what it is we want to wear to live. Young female designers often have a less successful career path than their male contemporaries, women like Behnaz Sarafpour, Alice Roi, Doo.Ri, and Vena Cava were all nominated for CFDA Awards and were ever-present figures in the pages of fashion magazines and red carpets until suddenly they weren’t. Most of their male contemporaries have continued their careers to this day.
So when Bartley says that her collection is for “women (their) age, indie by heart, rakish and irreverent by nature, (…) maturing into refinement and naturalness,” we can’t help but be excited, because finally! I mean, as much as we love Céline, we very well can’t run around town running errands wearing oversized bell sleeves. Those are for special moments only.
Here’s hoping Hillier Bartley sticks around for the long haul, we need them!
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