“My ideal woman?” says Tucker’s Gaby Basora (pictured). “Brainy: a doctor, or a woman researching chemistry, or microbiology, who takes off their lab coat at the end of an 18-hour day, only to be wearing a Tucker piece underneath.” Give Basora—the former stylist for Lauryn Hill and her Miseducation tour—credit for an original inspiration. Whatever her ideal, the reality is that her young line is already beloved by Jessica Biel, Liv Tyler, Cameron Diaz, and Jessica Simpson—none lab-coat wearers, but not a bad fan base nonetheless. “Liv Tyler called our office herself, asking for specific pieces. Our assistant was totally flummoxed and turned a dozen shades of red before she finally settled at a purple when talking to her on the phone. You have to understand, we are a really small operation. For our staff, it’s a big deal talking to these high-profile stars.”

Basora is in London for a week to shoot her new ad campaign, and had just enough time to squeeze in a private dinner at the hottest new eatery in East London, Leila’s Shop, with a gaggle of London’s top editors, who have embraced her easy-breeze aesthetic, one that effortlessly combines function and form. “Can you really wear leather peaked-shoulder jackets to work and be comfortable and serious during long days?” asks the designer. Hence, no structured cupola shoulders or leather leggings here, just light, ethereal separates that are now carried in more than a hundred stockists worldwide. “The thing about my pieces is that they are easy to mix up,” said Basora, in a jersey jumpsuit and knitted chevron jacket. “Our clients are clever and play with pieces. A lot of my customers wear certain items with the edgier designers—in fact, in our London showroom, we are shown alongside guys like Marios Schwab and Peter Pilotto, so totally different from what people think our aesthetic is.” A Pilotto-mixing mad scientist? That’s a tall order. So what about a dreamed-for real-life customer? “A combo of brainy and beautiful does it for us, so Michelle Obama would be perfect. Don’t you think?”