Luella
LONDON, February 14, 2008
By Sarah Mower
Why is it that so many designers are surreptitiously delving into horror movies to rev their engines? Only last night, Giles Deacon was murmuring about Roger Corman's The Masque of the Red Death. In New York, the Mulleavy sisters disclosed their liking for Japanese slasher movies. And last season, Christopher Kane was crazed for Carrie, Stephen King, all that. And now here's Luella Bartley, talking about "Britt Ekland in The Wicker Man and the witch museum in Boscastle, Cornwall, where we live," before adding, "I wanted something a bit raw and pagan." What's this? Generalized cultural anxiety seeping to the surface in the form of fashion?But, oh, stop. We're attending to a Luella collection here, and what we see before us is something (as the designer puts it) "cute but always a little sick—that's my girl." So there she is, working a quirky twisted-felt witchy hat, a short gray coat, a puff-sleeved peasant blouse, and high-heeled clogs, for starters. Happily, it didn't get much scarier than that, for the collection was dense with easy-to-wear pieces rather than sinister subtext—fitted black-and-red-check country jackets with puffed sleeves, cord jodhpurs, smocked blouses, a great herringbone single-breasted coat with perked-up shoulders, and a slew of accessories. Hard as it is for any designer to think of anything new to put on a bag, Bartley's English-village observations sparked the idea of taking the jingly bells and multicolored ribbons of Morris dancers' costumes and loading them onto satchels and totes.
In other words, it wasn't to be taken terribly seriously—except for the fact that, eight years on from her first showings in Portobello, Bartley is now the mother of three under five, with a proper brand to her name and a knack for keeping it young and witty. Kudos to her for that.
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Fall 2008 Ready-to-Wear
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D&G Daks by Giles Deacon Daryl K Daughters Dennis Basso Derek Lam Derercuny Diane von Furstenberg DKNY Dolce & Gabbana Donna Karan Doo.Ri Douglas Hannant Dries Van Noten Dsquared² Duro Olowu -
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Eley Kishimoto Elie Saab Elie Tahari Emanuel Ungaro Emilio Pucci Emporio Armani Erdem Erin Fetherston Etro -
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Fendi Francesco Scognamiglio -
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Gareth Pugh Giambattista Valli Gianfranco Ferré Giles Giorgio Armani Givenchy Gucci -
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Haider Ackermann Halston Hermès Hervé Léger by Max Azria House of Holland Hussein Chalayan -
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Iceberg Isaac Mizrahi -
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Kai Kühne Karen Walker Karl Lagerfeld Katy Rodriguez Koi Suwannagate Kris Van Assche Krystof Strozyna -
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L'Wren Scott Lacoste Lanvin La Perla Lela Rose Limi Feu Louise Goldin Louis Vuitton Luca Luca Luella Luisa Beccaria -
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Naeem Khan Narciso Rodriguez Nathan Jenden Nicole Miller Nina Ricci -
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Ohne Titel Oscar de la Renta -
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Paul Smith Women Peter Jensen Peter Som Phi Philosophy Pollini Ports 1961 Prada Preen Pringle of Scotland Proenza Schouler -
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Rachel Comey Rachel Roy Rag & Bone Ralph Lauren Requiem Réyes Richard Chai Richard Nicoll Rick Owens Roberto Cavalli Rodarte Rodnik Roksanda Ilincic Rue du Mail Ruffian -
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Salvatore Ferragamo Sari Gueron Shipley & Halmos Sinha-Stanic Sonia Rykiel Sophia Kokosalaki Stærk Stella McCartney Stephen Burrows Sue Stemp -
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Tao Temperley London Thakoon Threeasfour Todd Lynn Tommy Hilfiger Topshop Unique Tory Burch Tracy Reese TSE Tuleh -
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Undercover United Bamboo -
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Valentino Vera Wang Vera Wang Lavender Label Veronique Branquinho Versace Viktor & Rolf Vivienne Tam Vivienne Westwood Vivienne Westwood Red Label VPL -
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Y & Kei Y-3 Yigal Azrouël Yohji Yamamoto Yves Saint Laurent -
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Zac Posen Zero + Maria Cornejo
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